Thanks so much for the suggestions. I didn't realize there was so much available. I'm going to check these out and see what we can get. I wish our library had phonics based readers. It's so fun for kids to get to walk into a library or bookstore and pick out a book!

Hi, I'm looking for more phonics-based readers for my 6 y.o. 1st grader. We are using All About Reading and really like it. I purchased the Flyleaf Publishing Decodable Literature Library series 1, and these are perfect! I'm looking for more like these. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I wanted to update in case it is helpful to anyone who might be searching at some point with a similar question. She did the test. We got the scores back quickly, and they were very high. The results were helpful with our math plans for next year, confirming that she should be good with the switch to aops prealgebra. The test company recommends certain minimum scores for different math classes, and hers was above their minimums for geometry (generic high school class, not aops style). It's nice to have the reading level now, confirming that she can, in fact, read pretty much anything with age-appropriate content. We had already decided to try the Lukeion Latin class. She'll continue with the WWS 1 book. She asked to do the Art of Argument curriculum from Classical Academic Press (she was looking at their catalog), so we'll try that. I'm thinking of dropping/pausing grammar and vocabulary. We dropped spelling earlier this year. I'm still very uncertain about history and science and open to fabulous suggestions.

This is an interesting conversation. I've put a lot of thought over the years into our grocery spending and weighing health concerns vs. potential savings. We live in a high COL area and have 2 kids, ages 5 and 9, and 2 adults. My husband gets free lunch at work, but we rarely eat out. We currently spend around $200-$250 per week on groceries, including toiletries, OTC medicine, first aid, and paper products. We eat mostly "real food". I like Michael Pollan and aspire to follow many of his recommendations, but can't afford all his suggestions even on $250/week. I shop primarily at Costco and Trader Joe's. I purchase mostly organic for the kids' favorites among the "dirty dozen", wild caught fish, and some organic meat and chicken. White flour and sugar are reserved almost exclusively for things like birthday cakes. I don't eat wheat, but I don't purchase "gluten free" processed foods, and I eat the cheaper but potentially contaminated oats and lentils. One of my kids can't eat too much lactose, so we purchase some lactose free items. She also has sensitive skin and so I spend extra on toiletries that don't give her a rash. We purchase very little processed food. I bake bread and other items, cook, and make "snacks". There is a town about 35 min away that has an Aldi and a Walmart, and if I shop there and downgrade from some organic, wild caught, cage free, etc., products to conventional/farm raised/etc., I can get our spending down to $125-$150 and still feel good about the food we are eating. I would really not want to cut any more than this level for health reasons. I go back and forth wondering if the extra $100 per week to shop locally and get some organic, etc. is really worth it. An extra $400 per month to savings would be a good thing. I used to coupon and follow the budget grocery blogs. Eight years ago, our budget for 2 adults and a toddler who didn't eat much was around $50 per week. We always had plenty to eat and a decent amount of produce, but we ate more processed food, white flour, and sugar. Since we increased our grocery spending, my husband's health has improved enough in measurable ways (weight, blood sugar, cholesterol) that I would not go back. We both feel generally better too. I spent $75 today at Costco today on produce, dairy, and eggs alone. $70 total per week would be awful. I've often noted that the calorie count for many food budget plans would be insufficient for our family, and that they are low in fruits and veg.

Has anyone tried the MAP Growth Assessment? I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out what my 9 yo will do next year in a few subject areas, mostly because I'm having trouble determining what levels she should be at. We've been homeschooling since she was 5, and I've never had such a hard time with determining levels. I think she jumped a lot over the past school year. She took the 4th grade Stanford 10 in order to satisfy the requirements where we live, and she hit the ceiling in every category. I am considering the grade 6+ MAP test with the optional language portion. My understanding is that it would show the grade level she is working at in different areas. Right now, she is using Latin Alive with me at home. I'd love to switch her to Lukeion next year and hand off the Latin baton, but I'm concerned she might be overwhelmed. It looks more rigorous than Latin Alive, it's graded, and she'd have to keep up with the pace of the class. I'd like to do biology next year, but I don't know if I should be looking at middle or lower high school text books. An accurate reading level would help with literature and history selections.

Thanks! Sounds like an approach that would work well here. What math is your oldest working on now?

Yes, she likes those too and has them in multiple colors! ? She used to use them for math but got away from it for some reason. I'll suggest she try that again.

Thank you all so much for sharing your insight and experience. I think it's great that kids this age are working on reading math texts independently. I don't remember doing this myself until high school, and I think I was in college before I could do it properly. My daughter has been doing a lot of math on the white board recently, which has helped with the not writing things down problem. At some point she'll need to switch back to working everything out on paper, or learn to copy down what she's done on the white board.

We are going to be starting AOPS Prealgebra with my 9 yo soon. How has your family implemented this curriculum? We are not doing the online class because it goes past bedtime. :) We are planning to use the textbook, videos, and alcumus. Would you recommend purchasing the online book as well? My daughter can work problems independently, but she has never independently read and taught herself from a math text before. My husband and I are both comfortable with math and available to help, but she will need to do at least some or preferably most of the work independently due to time constraints. She was working through BA but asked to skip to prealgebra, and she passed the placement test. She has also done some Singapore and a bunch of other math stuff like contest problems, problems from a Russian book, etc.

Oh wow. We are trying to save our pennies now for higher level classes we might need to outsource in the future.

I hadn't seen that. Thanks!

Thank you for the recommendation. You're right - a program designed to span over many years might not be ideal. I looked at Analytical Grammar a little bit, and I think it might not cover all the topics I'm looking for. But maybe it would be fine for her to to just encounter them in the context of her Latin program instead (tenses, voice, not sure what else). I think Rod and Staff covers these topics, but it's a yearly program. Can anyone correct me if I'm wrong about topics covered? Looking at the pretest, AG would cover some new material. And now I am rethinking the other MCT components. :) One thing leads to another.

Hi, I'm looking at more advanced grammar options for my 9 year old and wondering if anyone has a suggestion. We are currently using MCT Town level. My daughter started Latin Alive 1 in January and is doing very well and enjoying it. We did about half of Latin for Children A last fall but finally switched because she was looking for a faster progression into reading and translating. Latin Alive seems much better for her. I think it would be good to switch, either immediately or next fall, to a more advanced grammar program in order to facilitate her interest in Latin. Also, she has a low tolerance for anything she deems repetitious, and I'm concerned Voyage might fall into that category. Although I like the 4 level analysis, it seems like it would be good to do some sentence diagramming as well. Should I consider skipping to Magic Lens? Rod and Staff (which grade?) Something else? I'd like something that will let her quickly learn topics she will come across in her Latin grammar that were not covered in MCT Town. We are using WWS at a slower pace, in place of the MCT writing assignments. We are in SoTW 4 this year and do the outlining and writing for that book. We are using the ACS Middle School Chemistry, which involves some writing but is not a classical approach. She also occasionally writes summaries for literature, creative stories, etc. She loves to read and has a very high reading level. MCT is very time-intensive on my part, at least the way we have used it. It would be an added bonus to switch to something more independent, as I also have a 5 year old. My 9 year old has been enjoying the independent aspect of WWS and her math (BA) this year. She is also interested in French and Greek. I can't think of a way to reasonably facilitate those for her at the moment, so she's probably going to have to wait. But when she gets to them, at least her grammar and Latin will hopefully be solid. Thanks!