We don't follow LCC exactly, nor WTM. But what I LOVE about LCC is that it is (as others have said) very centering; a framework. It helps me keep things simple. Fewer subjects, focus on those of core importance. LCC does do history, but not with the same emphasis as WTM. I don't agree with WTM 4 year cycle either. I mean, I think exposure to history and literature repeatedly before you really sit down and *study* them is ok, but I disagree on focusing on (and limiting) those things for lit and social studies before the 9-12 grade years. And I STRONGLY disagree with repeating 4 year cycle for science. Science is not just a body of knowledge/work (like history and literature) to be learned. It's also a process and means of communication. Studying only the subjects over and over is like studying literature and never studying writing. Sorry, that is MY philosophy, not LCC. But I find LCC matches my thoughts more closely.

Spanish. Husband is fluent, and I understand a lot of it (Italian background). Also, it's a very useful language in the US (and of course in places where the official language is Spanish). There are many resources, like my kids can watch nearly half the kids DVDs we own with the Spanish language track on.

The beauty (and one of my biggest reasons) of homeschooling is to teach each subject at their level (above, at, or below average). I would switch methods. I like the idea of Rightstart level B, both because I really like RightStart (reaches all modalities, semi-scripted, very little prep, fun "drill", etc) but also because of the level labeling. Our K foundation in Righstart carried oldest DD through some crappy public school math programs (Everyday Math) for three years!

Thanks for the comments, littlebug and plainjane. I hear mixed things about VP all the time. I wasn't aware of the scholastic or progeny press guides, so I will go look at those as well.

:lurk5:

Have you used them? Which books? Can you recommend them? Why or why not? Are they on-target for grade-level? Advanced? Flexible? There are a few books that I want DD to read next year that aren't part of the Lit program we are using, and two of them have VP lit guides: From the Mixed of Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and The Hobbit

We also love SET! Even the 3.5 yo gives it a go (with help from Dad). Other games of mental merit (and that are fun) which we like: Chocolate Fix (independent) Blockus River Crossing (independent) Bananagrams Gobblet Frog Juice We just got Carcassone for Christmas, and 8 yo DD loves to play with the adults (strategy-type game, fun, non-violent).

I think there are lots of "boxed" curricula out there that are wonderful! I often wished that it worked for us so that I could have the ease of a fully boxed/planned curriculum. But one of my main reasons for homeschooling is because my kids are not at the same level in everything (here for reading, there for math, way out in left field for other things, etc). Also, I guess I am a control freak because there always seems to be one or two elements of the boxed curricula that wouldn't be my first choice - so I "reinvent the wheel" so that all the "spokes" are exactly how I want them.

Thanks for all the input! It sounds like I can do this with my 4th grader. I should: start at level 1, focus on the rules, use the tiles if the writing becomes too much (the tiles were my initial draw to AAS!!), be patient on getting up to grade level, plan for about 20 minutes daily, and go read the other AAS threads. :001_smile:

Who has done this? Has it gone well? How old was your student? How long did it take your student to go from level 1 to their grade level? Any tips or advice in doing this (or NOT doing this)? I am thinking about AAS for next year (4th grade). I was able to sit down with Wanda Sanseri at a homeschool conference for a 10 minute hands-on intro with a couple of other moms. I really saw the merits of the O-G method. My DD has some fine motor issues however, and I knew that SWR / WRTR would be too taxing for her, so I opted for other spelling methods. It was later that year that I became aware of AAS. But it was untested and I didn't want to switch curriculum (spend more money). Soooo, I think her spelling is getting worse :tongue_smilie: and we need to start from the ground up, I think. I just don't want her to be bored to tears while she does it. I have two youngers who can use the program so I don't feel like purchasing multiple levels will be a waste. I just want to know what to expect with starting with an older student.

I have a DD who was just the same. "My hand hurts" was her complaint at nearly every writing task. It was hard, and I admit that at times I became impatient and demanding with her, but I think the best thing is to be patient. She still doesn't have the best handwriting, and writing task persistence is low, BUT it's a lot better (she's in 3rd grade now). I left writing tasks and went on to encourage her fine motor in other ways (drawing, legos, piano, beading, :ohmy: video games). I reserve writing for essential tasks and I try to have her do it in short spurts. Next year we are also going to have typing as part of our day.

Very helpful info - thank you! Hearing the way others use it helps me to know if it will work for my needs. I'm thinking of using it next year for 4th, 1st, and preK kids. My objectives are 3 fold: develop memory, hear and use beautiful language, develop public speaking skills. This is just background to our main curricular pursuits, so I don't want anything that is complicated/time consuming/hands-on. I'm wondering at this point if the program is worth the money. I think it would take a LONG time to compile poems and record them, and get them in digital format so that I can load them onto mp3 players. Thoughts on value???

...blah blah blah. Title is too long. For those of you who use it for memory work, HOW do you use it? I see there are some recommended options (EOPEOD, etc), but I'd love to hear how real homeschoolers are implementing (or improvising with) this program. Independent listening? Over the car stereo? How do you do recitation? Ages using it (and their success or frustration)? One other important question I would love to hear with your answers: WHY do you use it (what educational goals are you hoping to reach by using it)? TIA! :lurk5:

If you want traditional cursive writing later then I would suggest D'nealian style. If you don't mind "different" looking cursize, with beautiful (and easy, fluid) print try Getty-Dubay Italics. Handwriting Without Tears does not use ball and stick either (and I like the look of it's manuscript more than D'Nealian)

We have not used it. We actually decided to wait on Latin until 4th (next year). We have used it for Spanish. For Spanish it is lovely, immersion-based system. This has your student learning in a similar way to their first language. There is no direct translating - the attempt is to get you to think in the second language. For a spoken language that will get high use (like Spanish) I think that's the way to go! The problem with using it for Latin is this: you do not learn the systematic structure (forms, declinations, etc) in a logical or structured way. I think one of main the points of studying Latin is to learn this systematic structure for its use in general cognitive development (logic, organization, structure, etc) and for its application to English grammar. You lose that with Rosetta Stone (if it's set up like Spanish is). If your main emphasis is to speak Latin then Rosetta Stone will help. But to be able to accurately translate passages, read difficult texts in the source language, and to glean the benefits I mentioned above, a different approach is needed, IMO.

Oh, The Hobbit is a 6.6 according to arbookfind

Check out arbookfind.org which gives the Accelerated Reader (AR) book levels for most children's books. It has other information like interest level, subjects, book length (by publisher), and some info for the AR quiz system. The reading levels are done like this: grade.month in the school year (so 4.3 would be fourth grade, third month of school and 6.6 means sixth grade, sixth month of school). It's also nice to search for books on their level, in their interest level (which is often different from what they able to read), that cover subjects they are interested in.

I don't know about price because our umbrella school covers the testing, but we use MAP (measure of academic progress). It is a continuous scale (scores should increase as ability increases) which allows you to easily look at progress over time. It also gives you a percentile score. We use it for Math, Reading, and Language Usage. The test is computer-based, and adaptive. This means that if your student answers a question correctly they receive increasingly harder questions. This is so they accurately assess the upper range of the students ability. We have been in two different states and three different settings (public, home, charter) in 4 years and all settings used MAP testing.

For my guy, LEGOs for sure! Also, games by ThinkFun (he especially likes Zingo - we've got the bilingual version). Also, Tangrams and puzzles. Dot to dots and mazes are also favorites (we've used Kumon as well as others). Magnifying glass or loupe. My ds has started a collection of nature items, and I am thinking that a collection box would be really nice. I really want to get this, called the Touch Game. Have fun!

Thanks for great suggestions! I just reserved a montessori literacy book at the library. I've actually considered putting him into a montessori preschool (I've done observations at a perspective few already) because of his learning style and because he absolutely LOVEs being around other kids. We don't have any neighborhood kids, his sisters just don't play the way he likes to play, and playgroup/soccer/gym/church don't seem to be enough to fill his social needs.

My DS is 4yo, and showing interest in learning to read. We've done nothing for reading instruction so far, except let him watch Letter Factory. He knows all his upper and lower case letters and their sounds (only short vowel). He's figured out on his own how to decode CVC words. He makes guesses at other words he sees using context clues, his understanding of letter sounds, and his imagination :tongue_smilie: This is all unprompted. I waited with DD to be at this point to start teaching reading - and we breezed through 100EZ. She is very verbal-linguistic, and visual in her learning style, so a book was a great way to go for her. However, this guy is not visual or verbal-linguistic. He's very kinesthetic (strong auditory too) and he is more a global learner. The book is not a good option. Anything that involves simply sitting and looking is not an option. I am in no hurry. I don't really want a curriculum. I am just wondering what were your most successful strategies for this kind of learner for teaching reading. I've thought about just taking the 100EZ lessons and using the magnetic letters instead of looking at the book. But maybe that strategy is still to visual. Anyone with experience think AAS (I know it is spelling, but that some people use it for reading) would be a good fit? Maybe it's too structured for my guy. Let me expand the learning style to include the fact that he is always in motion, and always has been (even in utero I thought I must have been getting ready to birth an octopus). He bounces or runs in circles as he talks, he likes to touch (and sniff and taste) everything, he really thrices on physical contact with people (everything from hugs & kisses to kung fu battles on the tramploline). He will sit (stay in one location, maybe not on his bottom) for 15-20 minutes to do things like puzzles or build legos, and maybe sit for 10 minutes doing dot-to-dots and mazes. Like I said, I'm not in a rush to start serious lessons. But I see him making the attempts to read, and I'd like to help him along. TIA

Ditto

This is a Christian website, but it has a chart comparing many Latin programs, and includes whether they are secular. http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/curricula/reviews/latincomparison.php BTW, the "Christian references" in Minimus are minimal. They're more like time-frame references (as in on the timeline "Christ is born in the Roman province of Palestine"). I would call Minimus secular.

Take this with a grain of salt. I haven't used the program. I did sit in on a presentation by the author at our homeschool convention 2 years ago. I don't know if it was her presentation (I don't think it was), but this was BORING. It took the road/building metaphor a bit too far, over complicating the program. It was also really expensive. The plus side is all the DVDs you get (making it less prep/teach time for you).

Does (s)he know her ABCs and numbers to 10? My kids enjoyed doing dot-to-dots and mazes at that age. They have the appearance of "big kid school work" and they help develop fine motor and sequencing skills. If they're ready to read you could always try 100EZ or Phonics Pathways. The Kumon series of workbooks is secular, colorful, and builds skills sequentially. It isn't a curriculum, but it is good for kids eager to do seat work but not ready for K/1st grade stuff.