I live in an area with an extremely small library, and a son who has read every book in sight-over and over. We have six sweet children who would enjoy the books. They don't have to be uniform, but I do desire hardback editions that are not abridged. I have already purchased my k-8 Reading programs, Spelling, English, Mathematics, Science, and basic History texts although I do plan on adding Story of the World 1-4 series this year, as I plan to do it after MFW Adventures along with BF books series on different topics. I am still adding to my high school Science, History, and LOF High School Math books, and a few additional electives for high school (each child will be different). Our basic program is set up- our children don't do everything the same, but they do follow a linear pattern through whatever programs they choose. I only need to add workbooks/ consumables for each child yearly. This year would be the first year in a long time that I could afford to spend a decent amount on schooling, most years I only have funds for consumables. I bought the majority of my curriculum/ textbooks when I received an inheritance, and doing so was one of the best things that I ever did, as we went through several years of being broke afterward. Our library limits books to two at a time, and have an extremely small selection, so having a bookshelf of classic literature would be a blessing to our family and other families in our town. Does anyone know of a quality set of books, as buying a set is usually more economical?

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is having a great school year. I am looking at the idea of spending next years homeschool budget on a large volume of hardback classic literature books for our family (and to lend with love to other homeschooling families). I have about 1000 dollars budget and I love the idea of uniformity. I have Preschool pretty much already covered through Sonlight cores/ many Treasuries, so I am mainly looking for K-12 chapter books and high school lit that shouldn't be missed; I know that is a broad range-lol. Do you know of an unabridged series like this? What series of books would you make sure were a part of your library? Thank you for reading/ responding to my post! Brenda

I am a big fan of Adventures in MFW! I am doing it for the second time starting very soon- I need to purchase student sheets, but if I had those I would have already started. I might have to wait until January, I was planning on starting now, but finances are tight right before CMAS-kwim. I did Adventures with my oldest son and a few other children many years ago, but wanted my "middles" to do this also, as it was one of my favorite years!

I have the Rod and Staff Science for Elementary and it is very simple, which is why I love it. I like the short chapters with questions to check comprehension. We also have Apologia books for family readaloud times. I also love Considering Gods Creation, it covers so many topics and is great for large families or for a final year of Science before doing single subject focused studies. So my vote is yes Rod and Staff is great, but if you are Christian Apologia books are great to!

I used to read Leo the Late Bloomer to him when he was little and I would get so weepy and emotional because it felt meaningful to our family! We have done this too, and the book does make you cry. My daughter had major difficulty in learning to read, and at age 9/10 was reading on a second grade level, despite LOTS of phonics/ taking breaks ect.. Today she tested in 10th grade reading level for "word recognition" on Diane Crafts website at age 12, so it was very encouraging. She has a lot of difficulty in memorization of anything, reading, and she consistently flipped numbers around when doing math, so despite understanding how to do math, she would inevitably get the answer wrong. Fast forward to this school year and she is making unbelievably fast gains in EVERYTHING! She is memorizing Bible verses, grammar cards, spelling rules, and states/capitals. She is no longer mixing up her numbers, and is progressing quickly through math. She is reading voraciously, and understanding and can narrate what she reads. She is understanding proper sentence structure, and is finally consistently capitalizing proper nouns-lol. I really believe puberty opened her brain- seriously. She was always intelligent, but couldn't remember anything readaloud to her or that she read to herself (it was isolating and frustrating for her). A year ago her spelling was about a 2nd grade level, and now she has flown through Rod and Staff Spelling 4/5 this semester, and is just starting 6! Everything literally clicked at once. So to answer the question, children can begin slowly and still soar;).

I have had three boys so far that haven't fit the "mold"-lol. My middle son loves to write, my oldest was reading at 2- very very well, it was shocking, and my younger middle son who has apraxia (speech disorder) seems to love anything that requires writing, drawing, or being read aloud to. The only child that I had that didn't enjoy being read aloud to when young was actually my oldest daughter! Every child is so different. She was slow to read, but is voraciously reading now! One thing that I have noticed is the more I have read aloud to a child the easier they seem to learn to read when they are ready to learn.

Also if you dc is advanced in Reading and since you already have Math planned, I would suggest the Adventures program. I feel it fits advanced 1st graders very well. To be ready for Adventures a child should be able to read an early reader Bible, copy one paragraph oral narrations, and be able to listen and enjoy chapter books being read aloud. I think since Reading, Math, and Copywork (which WWE champions) are the most important studies for grades 1/2- I wouldn't feel even a bit bad for encouraging you allow yourself to do MFW Adventures over 11/2 years allowing your daughter to mature more for before beginning the 5 year cycle- still allowing a buffer year for a rough year, and still be able to finish the entire cycle (if this is your plan). MFW Adventures is my second favorite year from MFW following MFWK, but ECC is nice too-lol. I like to add the book called The American Story to my study with Adventures, this also helps in lengthening it out a bit- it is 100 stories in American History in 2 pages on average. My children LOVE this book, and always want a second story. As an addition, MFW Adventures recommends Primary Language Lessons for 2nd/3rd grade; if you believe that your daughter may not be ready for that yet, we love First Language Lessons as it is mostly oral and great for 1st grade. We often do level 1 and 2 in one year followed by Primary Language Lessons as they are more "usage" focused so I feel that we apply what we memorized in FLL 1/2 in Primary Language Lessons. This is what works at our house-lol. I hope you have a great year!

I recommended the middle Rod and Staff because I thought that is what you meant with being in arithmetic; I think beginning with Fractions, Decimals, Prealgebra 1 and 2 would be the best choices from Fred. I hope you both enjoy the readaloud time!

I have found that my children LOVE it. We are using the LA and will be starting the Creative Writing soon with my middles soon. I feel that it does cover the necessities, as well as many nice additions like art appreciation, art, and geography thoughout the levels. We have really enjoyed the writing workshops in the lower levels and the gentle introduction of essays in level 7. What I like the most about this program is that the focus slowly changes from Phonics to Reading to Grammar to Writing as you progress through the levels, while each of those are taught in each level (with the obvious exception being Phonics phases out as Vocabulary phases in), but the heaviest focus of each level changes as you progress. I feel that if your child struggles in a certain LA subject that this program is simple enough, that it is easy to add one more thing to it; we are personally adding Rod and Staff Spelling this semester and will be adding Primary Language Lessons next semester with my young middles. Next year we will be adding Rod and Staff English as I can teach it as a group in addition to the individual lessons in TGatB. I will say that if used as intended, then it is definitely complete, my issue is that I love a lot of programs, so I like combining. Most people consider Rod and Staff English complete for English, but a lot of people still supplement the writing or do additional English work, as with every program, mold it to fit you, not the other way around-KWIM.

We love Rod and Staff here! I also believe Spectrum Word Study books are great for more "word" practice as well.

I believe that LOF is fabulous, but with my dd who needs mastery teaching with a spiral review, Rod and Staff works well (although we are considering switching to Math for a Living Education simply for the workbook format and storyline). I would look at Rod and Staff 5 or 6, or Math Mammoth (take the placement test), or Math for a Living Education(again take the placement test-lol); I believe all of these are solid and have their own personal strengths, so I would suggest that you look into them. I believe LOF can definitely be a standalone program for advanced children, but for those that struggle you would be adding in so much review that it would feel like a waste. In your situation, if I loved Fred I would do it as a readaloud together, in addition to another basic program, and would begin with the Intermediate books of Kidneys, Liver, and Mineshaft. Math for a Living Education is a mix of LOF style with a weekly storyline- this would be my #1 recommendation. Math Mammoth is Asian inspired, similar to Singapore, but within a single book. Rod and Staff is a Mastery program with spiral review and is traditional in teaching. I hope you find what works for your family soon. Brenda

With your DSs being so young, do you mind telling me what curriculum you used in Math, Reading, Critical thinking, and LA? Also test prep-lol;)

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss. We all go through at least one year where it is hard to accomplish our goals, so cheer up sweetheart. With intelligence and hardwork you can make great gains this year. Secondly, I would look at what your goals are for your son. If you would like to keep things minimalistic, yet provide a wide framework, below is what I would do in your situation. Bible (if you are Christian,lol)- Read The Golden Childrens Bible together or Apologia What We Believe Series or Roadtrip 66 Bible Study. Language Arts- The Good and the Beautiful LA covers so many subjects and my kids LOVE it (it is also free to print-woohoo). I add Rod and Staff Spelling as they also love it, but it is not necessary in my opinion. The Good and the Beautiful incorporates reading skills, but also do reading challenges, that incorporate books of their choosing. Math- I would suggest Teaching Textbooks for math, if you want to be mostly hands-off, or Math For a Living Education if you like workbooks, but want something gentler and only one math page daily. Science and History can be combined this year using Beautiful Feet's History of Science, plus having him read any books on science topics of his personal interest. For handwriting-any workbook will do, or you can do copywork, which would incorporate LA skills at the same time. Queens has several of these type of programs. This would only take you an hour a day of tutoring, and the rest of the day he could work independently. I also suggest picking at least one thing that he LOVES doing, whether art or computers, ect. God Bless your family and your school year. Brenda

Maybe in teaching her to read, she would pick up sight words quicker though. So that might be worth mentioning to them.

Anything by Lauri Toys can fit both ideals of educational and flashy. The Tall Stacker Peg set is so much fun, and it can be used for building or math skills. If you look into My Fathers World and Timberdoodle preschool and prek packages there are so many fun and educational pieces in those packages. Hope you find the perfect gift. Brenda

I have never seen Spelling Plus, but I LOVE natural speller. I use Natural Speller with Rod and Staff Spelling, at different times of the year. This year we also did TGatB LA which also touches on spelling,lol. We love spelling at our house.

I love the looks of this program. We use LOF as a family, so didn't want to add another storyline right now; but it was in my top 4 for elementary choices! It looks like a lot of fun!

I hope that you have a great year! Brenda

I voted yes, as I still enjoy the same ideals and programs from my initial years of homeschooling; so much so that I am reusing them with my "middles" this year. I believe in reading aloud to children beginning from birth. (If you are interested in free childrens books being sent to your house monthly, it may be worth your time to look into Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, the books are such an exciting treat for the children) I believe in children getting more time "playing" than doing seatwork at young ages/ I also love to add Montessori/STEM activities as they get older. I believe teaching my children to love others, to love God, and to have good habits is the MOST important thing that I am learning right along side of them. I believe copywork, narration, and dictation is such a beautiful way to strengthen natural writing and speaking skills. Some children learn better pictorially and some learn better tactilely when it comes to mathematics- find how they enjoy learning and go with it- try to limit yourself to no more than 2 math programs if you have lots of children. You can modify any curriculum to fit the child, but for everything you add there is a learning curve. I love to continuously build each child independently in skill subjects, yet I love to bring the family together for all other subjects as much as possible. The older my children get, I encourage my children to pick some of the important parts of their education for themselves, it makes them happy and more accountable to doing well. I love reading aloud in any subject with my students, but some of mine learn better with unit study activities/ worksheets- so I try to add those in when applicable. The park is your best friend. Play with your children (this is something that I have to tell myself- with 6 children and cleaning banks late most evenings, I need to stop and enjoy these sweet hearts). LOVE EVERY MOMENT YOU HAVE TEACHING AS IT IS FLEETING. Our children are growing up fast, and we only get to do this once. Brenda

We are a family of 8, living in under 900 square feet, so I would think this qualifies as small; but we actually feel it is just right at this time-lol. Although I would give anything for the laundry to be upstairs, and out of the uninhabitable basement. The city lines back up into our basement all of the time and so it smells and is just not encouraging to go do laundry-lol. Here are things that we have done to organize things in our house. Our kitchen is tiny, but our livingroom is the largest room in the house and we do just about everything in there. We have a beautiful tri-window area that we placed our dining table at; and this is where the children sit for meals or Montessori/craft activities. We put one loveseat and one couch in here plus my rocking chair. We have one large bookcase to store books in- we have found that buying reusable things, and organizing them saves so much money in our homeschool. When we first moved in this house we put desks along one wall, and it worked well for overseeing independent work; but I felt it took up too much room for the 11/2 hours of use it got daily. I have switched my children to lapdesk, and they can sit in the livingroom wherever they want to or on their own bed (if they are getting their work done well under supervision, I try to begin giving them space during silent reading/independent work). I put a large bookshelf where the desk were- I think every homeschool will eventually need a decent bookcase. I did put one desk in each of the bedrooms, and the children in those bedrooms can keep consumable workbooks/binders in that desk, this also gives them another place to do seatwork if they want to; some of my children prefer the desks over lapboards. I also minimize my books/ curriculum to what we love and will definitely use over the years. I also limit outfits for the children, based on what they need if washing twice weekly, plus a nice town outfit, and two church outfits. Enjoy those babies-lol. I am looking at investing into a game cabinet - with a lock- lol, so that I can incorporate more time playing with my children, without "missing" pieces.

That is awesome!

I am so glad to hear that your son did well in testing. Are they enjoying the programs? I love the looks of all of HOD programs. I will begin the program with him as soon as he finishes TGatB LA and Biology;).

I used WWS 1 with my oldest, and it took us 1 and 1/2 years to finish, but it was fantastic as written.

I think that using curriculum as a tool is the BIG thing. We still tend to follow a more linear pattern in our studies as it seems natural, but when feasible I will pick a couple different things for each child. I love the HOD guides- we have done the Little Hearts, Bigger Hearts, and Preparing from HOD, but I never used the guide just as written, and we still enjoyed having the plans. I am so excited about DS's high school planning. I have been mentally fightlng between HOD, MFW, and Beautiful Feet/Notgrass for quite sometime, and each year may be from a different publisher-lol. This years answer became very obvious when he said he loved the looks of the entire package of HOD Geography package, and his skills in writing would fit it very well once we finish TGatB over the next several months. I wanted him to be writing essays easily this semester, so that with any choice of HS, he would be very successful in the writng portion. I am glad to hear that the upper levels are awesome as well. If this year goes well, he may choose to keep up with it as he likes to stay with things longterm for the stability it brings him. He is my child who likes routine, and clear direction, and works very hard. Thank you so much for your time in replying. How are your children doing now, that used HOD through HS? Oh, he will definitely be doing the living library supplement.