We love Fred here, and I believe it could be stand alone for a strong math student. For average students I would do it as a supplement to BJU or Saxon.

Rod and Staffs Patterns of Nature would be great to do this year followed by Abeka Health. We love Rod and Staffs simplicity.

I switch after Rod and Staff 6 to BJU Fundamentals because I was given all of the middle and High School math free when a school closed down. I love the looks of the 7th and 8th books and have been tempted to do them with my younger set of kiddos.

My upcoming 8th grade daughter will be working on basics and enjoying a year to read all of the Apologia elementary science books/ some Tiner books. English-Rod and Staff English 6 Spelling-Rod and Staff Spelling 8, she is a great speller. Math-BJU fundamentals of math (1st semester) and Prealgebra (2nd semester). She is a hard worker and is focused on math this next year. She wants to be Algebra ready for 9th grade. Writing-Copywork using momdelights lesson sheets with Mcguffey readers. I may have her begin Writing with Skill 2nd semester if she finishes English 6 by then. Health School aid Health 7th/8th books...she is fascinated by the human body and looking forward to this set. She is doimg building blocks now. History- Read through the Grueber series as a one year review plus some books for each study based on All Through the Ages to coordinate with the time period. Reading- 1 to 2 hours daily. P.E. She works out daily

My little man will be 1st grade this year🤗. 1. We will continue doing mostly the same routine from kindergarten with a few extras. 1. Continue daily speech activity with his preschool brother. We target a sound by playing a game and this has done wonders for his speech. You wouldnt know at 3 and a half he had no words as now he speaks clearly and reads. 2. Finish Rod and Staff kindergarten workbooks- this is fun school at our house. 3. Adding a phonics workbook because he loves to write. But we are still working in some phonics primers and will until he finishes them. 4. 10 minutes reading aloud to me from Dr.Suess and early readers. Read the Early Readers Bible as his main text in the fall. 5. I got a nice math workbook set at Goodwill for 1st and 2nd grade and he already knows his math facts and adds so this will be an easy subject for him. It came with punchout manipulatives. He did Rod and Staff 1st grade 1st Book last semester and enjoyed it....but I wrote it all from the manual and used what he needed only. 6. I got a 1st grade skills book at Goodwill and will pull out the handwriting pages and do the reading comprehension with him in the fall. 7. He is still in our littles group....so daily read alouds, songs, outdoor play, play dough, building toy time, and join mama cooking and cleaning.

I have used Rod and Staff preschool and now the kindergarten books as well with my littles and have LOVED them. Here is what I do with my under 8 crowd. 1. Encourage outside play as much as possible or active indoor games. 2. Encourage them to join you in chores and everyday life, especially cooking. 3. Talk about what you are doing...builds vocabulary. 4. Play a game with them or craft a few times each week. My littles love HiHo Cheerio and matching games-the Dollar Tree has a set for a buck. 5. Set up a Montessori bookshelf with activities for them to play more independently. 6. Read aloud everyday. 7. Add songs to your read aloud time for fun memories. The Wheels on the Bus s a great one to start with. 8. Add the Rod and Staff workbooks at age 4 and start them with using large crayons. My children feel so proud when they get their own big kid books. 9. Begin using a phonics primer when they are ready. 10 minutes daily goes so so far. Add Bob books when they are sounding out 3 letter words easily. 10. Count with them when walking up steps, pushing them on the swing, or in cooking together. Once they are counting to 10 well begin the Counting book in Rod and Staff preschool. The counting book has a hundred chart built in and I teach my children to count to 20 well, then by 10s to 100, then to 100 by 1s, then by 5s, and lastly by 2s. Lastly, enjoy this in a slow way as time flies and these days are so special. Brenda

These look beautifully done. I love the gentle progression and that it is heavy in homemade manipuatives and oral problems in teaching concepts. I really love extra that it is free. I may add this this year for my Kindergartner. Thanks!

We are also doing Rod and Staff K books this year plus CLE K2 program...they seem to have different focuses...I love them both! Brenda

I actually love Rod and Staff Science 2nd grade and 4th-8th....my kids absolutely LOVE it here. It becomes pretty independent for them from 4th grade on. BUT...for some reason we all thought the 3rd level was a bit boring compared to the rest of the series....so dont judge the program by the 3rd year. My recommendation would be to do the 2nd year Patterns of Nature-it is awesome and add Abeka Science 3. The lower level Abeka Science is great for kiddos, but Patterns of Nature is just not to be missed. Brenda P.S. Did I say that the first books my kids want to do during our reading hour is Rod and Staff Science and Social Studies books....they just love them.

I love the looks of Winterspromise to! I always disliked extra crafts and such...because it felt like here mom is you a craft to do..but now my kids actually do this type of stuff for fun so it would be great for them. Off to day dream about Winterspromise while nursing our little sweetheart. Brenda

I used to do that with MFW rotations. I love the idea of teaching all of my children together except the younger and HSers, but in reality I only have time for Family Bible/ Readalouds, A littles readaloud period before naps, A primary group social studies/ science/ health and safety rotation, and tutor each child for about half an hour during our Robinson style rotation. We do 1 hour writing/ English, 1 hour Reading-2 in HS, 1 hour Math- almost 2 hours in HS. I loved the years when all of my children were young and I did have time to teach them all together...but now I have 3 groups plus a newborn. Brenda Fwiw...I have also googly eyed over Tapestry but knew I could never do it.

Community college and college here in Southern Indiana is affordable even if we had to pay for it...although most people in around here can get Pell grants and Merit grants covering it entirely. I was able to not only get my schooling paid for, but received 1500 a semester back to cover books and gas. Community College around here runs about 4- 5 grand a year if you paid out of pocket...add 2 grand for the local college...so affordable even for us who truly are low income. Living in the Midwest must really be much cheaper than elsewhere....I hear that in regards to everything-our home only costed 75000...and is a really nice home with a large lot in a small town. I think price is truly reflected by area. Brenda

I am a huge fan of Rod and Staff 4th grade Geography book.

This is something we are doing as a 6 week intensive as well...as a group, but studied independently AFTER initial introductions of new roots. These are the type of things that are great to do in the summer before the school year.

I love momdelights.com and plan to incorporate her lesson books with our Robinson books...they are great. I am also having a new little one...in the morning😁...pray it goes well. My kiddos are 15, 13, 10, 8,5,and 2 and half ...and tomorrow newborn. I love to streamline our homeschooling. You may like Our House on Youtube...Karen is so encouraging.

I have a similar spread as you, and below is what I have been doing and plan to do for next year. I would add your piano as your main elective and only do 1 family focus at a time...and it is the optional part of your day. Begin with family Bible or Charcter studies/Readalouds...whatever your religion or non religion is...hope that makes sense...this is a great way to start your day and gather all children together. Math period 1st-when not needed by your olders I would read aloud to preschoolers or do workbooks with them. Reading lessons or silent required reading can be done next allowing your quiettime in the afternoon to be used for those fun crafts that you don't want the toddlers doing OR if your littles nap early this order can be reversed. I personally would quiz Spelling this summer and do direct teaching of Handwriting/Math facts allowing them to be on the backburner for fall. I would do Rod and Staff English as it is awesome and worth the time that you tutor each child. I would offer my children options to do anything else independently. You could offer reading list or assignment list for your type A kiddos...or baskets of opportunities for your more casual kiddos. My personal philosphy is to focus on Bible, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic with children and add 1 family study that can be short lived like Latin/Greek roots or long lasting like Considering God's Creation which will take us all year next year. I also tutor my kiddos each about half an hour daily pulling them out during the morning lessons...but encourage mine to do most things very independently. We are incorporating a lot of Robinson Curriculum into our homeschool this year. I like the routine, focus on reading and vocabulary, and working up to independence in math and writing. I taught myself throughout school and felt it was to my benefit in life and college, but I enjoy tutoring my children as well so I do have that time for each of them...so a more motherly version of Robinson😉. Brenda

I am planning to do the following with my little Ker this fall. Speech therapy- he has made such strides that unless you were told, you wouldn't notice. He is doing therapy with a therapist weekly and using Super Star Speech daily with me. A combination of The Reading Lesson and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons...I plan to alternate days with these. I also have tons of letter matching/sound matching puzzles and word wheels that advance from beginning to complex sounds for a different way to work on sounds. Bob book for Beginning Readers workbook for handwriting review. A couple Developing the Early Learner workbooks for skills development. Tons of Readalouds Math-Counting, writing, and recognizing numbers to 100, practicing addition to 10 and then 18 progressively with manipulatives and followed by memorizing flashcards. I will also work on time, calendar, and measurement. This is all we will be doing. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and a little bit of thinking skills. I already own all of the formerly mentioned things, but if I had the money I would add CLE K2 workbooks as my last Ker loved them and they are fun! MFW K has fun units as well...but I lost mine when we moved or during the flood eight after we moved...not quite sure...but I did that with my first 3 and loved it...not a huge fan of the phonics and math portions compared to CLE, but the units are great....and if I end up with just a bit extra money before fall and can find it used I would like to do it with my 2 littles together. If not I will hopefully get it for next year...I think the activities and stories are great for a wider age than just K. Brenda Edited to add...I am adding in CLE K2 program and the GHI series from Rod and Staff...my son has LOVED the preschool books... 2nd semester when he has finished CLE K I will add in Rod and Staff Math 1...and possibly do Pathway Reading 1. He is already reading 3 and 4 letter words pretty well so I belive he will be ready for more fun about then. Rod and Staff are such fun workbooks for kiddos.

I really love Rod and Staff Spelling to! We have used it as my kids main seatwork/workbook since my oldest was in 2nd grade. I also use Natural Speller to find patterns they don't naturally get and recently Spelling Power to help find common words used in writing that may not come naturally. But this year thought I would take a break from extra workbooks and thus grading😉....but quiz deeply in those programs to find words that they don't know or write incorrectly into a special study list that they can study and deference next semester😀...lightening my load for next year. Rod and Staff really is awesome especially levels 7 and 8 and she is awesome about grading her own work...she takes her studies seriously😉! I hope anyone who has an extra busy next year, and needs to lighten may find working deeper now may help someone. It is working great here😁. I can now know my extra time can be spent reading aloud or enjoying our newborn😁. Thank you for your reply! Brenda

I thought that I would throw out an idea that this mom is doing for the next several months to help lighten my load next fall. We are being blessed with a sweet little lady next month sometime and I as much as I love "short lessons" like Charlotte Mason for some things I have found that I prefer to go deep and well in other things. My kiddos finished my goals for them in March for the year and we teach year around, but now I have 5 and adding a preschooler and newborn next year I wanted to lighten next years load by doing somethings this late spring and summer. Here is what I have done so far and plan to do this summer. March- My kiddos were required at least an hour of reading, family Bible and readaloud period-here is the perfect place to throw in 15 minute lessons as a group😉, Math fact drillwork-we worked until truly mastered well, and phonics review using Alphaphonics with my little middles or grammar and country memory cards with olders. My olders also independently worked on Science and History. April- My kiddos are still doing 1 hour required reading, family Bible and readalouds, Spelling drills using Spelling Power-we are quizzing entire levels and studying missed words until they are spelled 3 times correctly in a row several days apart- my kids are LOVING this and it reminds me of my Spell Bowl days😁, and cursive handwriting-they are doing 2 pages daily, and I am reading LOF for math as a family. I am also drilling vocab words with my oldest and English From the Roots Up with my middles. May-My plan is reading and family Bible and readalouds, LOF as a family and Grammarland as a readaloud...so everything is group...until little lady arrives😁. June I am just planning Family Bible, preschool readaloud hour, LOF, and English one on one with each kiddo to get them ahead for the year. July-same as above....plus heavy focus on my oldest on essay writing and youngers on reading skills-comprehension, sequencing, inferencing ect... August-Same as above plus math fact drill one more time and thinking skill workbooks or programs for the oldest. My Ker is just doing gun workbooks like Rod and Staff and phonics/speech with me daily. Preschooler is getting 20 minutes-30 minutes of readalouds until summer and I will cut my olders readaoud period and make it an extra focus for him...so he has a reason to cuddle mama after the new baby is born. By doing longer sessions in the above sessions with my school age kiddos than I am able to cut those subjects in the fall and focus on the baby and what I consider the most important subjects with my kiddos. So instead of daily phonics I can have them readaloud to me only for the fall...instead of juggling the two. I am dropping Rod and Staff Spelling next year so I have one less thing to grade by doing drillwork now and again if needed at the beginning of August to find the words they actually don't know or are using incorrectly in their writing. By getting ahead in English this summer then I can cut it to 3 days weekly next year...allowing them a day to focus on writing letters to friends and family and not feel behind. By drilling Math facts and all of LOF elementary with my kiddos I believe it will help them be a bit more independent next fall in math as it will be a lot of review....my kiddos really catch on to math easily and LOF is fun😁. My youngest may drop out of the problems when they get too difficult for her, but can listen to the storyline for fun...my older middles will fit great here this summer. Doing Handwriting now will allow me to drop it from my brain until 2nd semester... So next fall I can focus on Reading, Rod and and Staff Math and English, and Family studies. So no Handwriting, Phonics, Vocabulary cards, Thinking Skill workbooks, or Math fact drill-except my 3rd grader who will begin multiplication, or Spelling. The exception to Spelling is my upcoming 7th grader wants to do Rod and Staff 7 spelling as it makes her feel like she is getting older😉...so I told her that she could. All summer I am also doing Math with my oldest son to help him prep for the PSAT next fall. My oldest kiddos will have required History and Science independently next fall, but I will only be doing Considering Gods Creation as I have wanted to do it already, but didn't have time with everything else. I am thinking that this will allow me to have school done by noon with the exception of my highschooler whom I will work in the late evening after kiddos are in bed on writing and advanced math topics. I really like the time alone with him. This allows me to not just teach, but to have my whole afternoons to mother my kiddos...play with them, cook with them, cuddle and read picture books, or build castles...ect...and clean my house in the late afternoon while cooking supper. I want to enjoy my kiddos as the years are flying too fast. Brenda P.S. I have even thought doing 6 week units during the next year would be fun...composers...geography...picture studies....ect...as it fit my/my kids personality..deep and then move on...with our main focus being science all year. So it would be like 2 family subjects in rotation....most likely that will wait until 2nd semester so we can enjoy our new little lady. Hope this helps other families who like beauty, but can't mentally have that many balls in the air as we have lots of kiddos or other obligations to to balance. God Bless everyones new year😁

I agree that there should be a difference between unschooling and nonschooling. What I wonder is whether nonschoolers are claiming the unschooling label or are people labeling nonschoolers unschoolers...kinda like our area public school that wants to label dropouts as homeschoolers....when they have no plans to homeschool at all. Brenda

I have found the exact same thing when I tutor High School math students, that arithmetic especially fractions, eecimals, and percentages are very weak. Our schools in the area are pushing algebra and geometry into elementary and middle school, but arithmetic isn't strong at all. Brenda

I agree in teaching solid basics😉 as well no matter what they want to go into. I guess I thought unschoolers looked at what their children want to do with their lives and set up objectives and goals to reach it and then provided materials and tutoring necessary-but may spend a lot more time on those things than others....but I think this is what I want to think it is....as it seems I have seen a lot of those saying they are unschooling which just means free range to do whatever they want without help in reaching those goals. That makes me sad as the kids are missing out on so much that would allow them to reach their personal goals. Brenda

I guess I must really misunderstand their unschooling mentality, as I was under the understanding that unschooling didn't limit a child's education, but instead taught them and focused on their interest and if they had goals the parent helped them reach them by giving them resources. I am a math lover and require Algebra 1, 2, and Geometry....and more importantly Finance before graduation, but if any of my kiddos desired a STEM career I would push further mathematics and science studies. I am only requiring my kiddos do Health with Human Anatomy and Physiology, Physical Science, Biology, and a very basic Chemistry....but hope they go further as their interest lies. I cannot understand not requiring a simple basic framework for English, Maths, and Sciences....and then allowing them to explore, intern, or apprentice in whatever they are most interested in. It makes me incredibly sad to hear about the unschooled kiddos really being nonschooled😢. Brenda

Hi hive😁, My 3 hr. testing came back great! Fasting 85 1 hr. 136 2 and 3 hour just said passed without actual numbers. I am so thrilled!!! Thank you Lord! I am so glad that I won't have to be induced at 38 weeks...which they require of diabetics in their practice. Brenda Edited to add...my 2 and 3 hours were just posted. 150 and 135😁.

Just throwing another option out there😉.you may be interested in Khan Academy...he can earn badges and that motivates many kiddos😁. Free videos, problem sets with hints, and it will test him to place him...all for free😁. Brenda When we get our internet up and running Inplan to place all of my kiddos for the summer😁.