:iagree: I was a die hard Singapore user for the past several years, I own all the levels (textbooks and HIG) and was all set, then I found MM. It is so much easier to teach, and balance levels.

Thank you! I know it was more a frustrated vent than an actual plea for help! I have been doing this long enough to know what I need to do, it's just finding the time and energy to do it. I am going to check out that SWB audio because I do not have that one yet.

I have 5 children that I am teaching ages 7-14. They are 2nd- 8th grades. I am wearing thin. There is not enough of me to go around. We usually do Bible (several things), history, and read aloud together (using Biblioplan/Sonlight core 3 loosely). Then we break for independent work. Here is where it gets difficult. There is an 11yo boy living with us that has been ps his entire life, and not in a good home- hence how he came to be with us. He is so behind in math, and reading that I wonder how he made it to 5th grade. He has no recall. When I ask for narrations after reading something he just can't remember. He reads and comprehends on a 2nd grade level. It's sad. I am trying to work with him and bring him up to where he needs to be, but everything is above his head! What do I do? I tutor in the afternoons M-TH so we have to be done with school by 12:30. I don't know whether to split them up into groups, have mine work more independently on history or just keep doing our thing and hope he catches on. I ahve been reading CM and am intrigued by the idea of the kids each doing their own reading but ten it seems so - maybe cold and out of touch, just not family like, like we are not sharing the learning as a family. I don't know. It seems great, I love reading the "Higher up and further in" and it sounds lovely, but we ahve always done things together. Is it time to move on? :tongue_smilie:

My just turned 14 year old son is in 8th grade. He can write reports well on all types of non fiction, but when I ask for a fiction piece of writing he just doesn't like it, nor is he very good at it. We were trying IEW unit 3 and it is like pulling teeth. I do not have to write fiction as an adult, nor am I aware of any careers that would require this- should I worry about this skill?

There is a unit study on the book Sign of the Beaver on Homeschoolshare that has some of this as the young boy is learning skills to survive from the Indians as his father went to go get the rest of the family.

I am doing the C25k! I am about 50 lbs from where I want to be. I have lost 30 already. I am on week 6 day 2, but I didn't get to run the full 10 minutes, so I will be repeating it. I had horrible leg cramps. Anyways, I have continued wth this longer than anything else. I have never been in shape, and I just turned 35. I don't have big lofty goals inmind, but I want to finish this program and continue to run 30 minutes 3 times a week for my kids. I can't be a good mom and be unhealthy and overweight. I was always tired. I just couldn't do it anymore. HTH!

me too! :D

Yes back off for a while. Then give reading made easy a shot. The lessons are short, and simple, and it is my favorite learn to read program ever. The one thing I have never curriculum hopped, or even searched for- I had exactly what I wanted. ;)

I have not read all the replies, but by FAR my favorite phonics program is Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt. I have taught several children to read (mine and some others) with this program, and it is awesome. So simple, and it gets them reading, and they LOVE to read. :D

Hi, we have NO plans of sending our children to government schools.

I also like it. We didn't end up using it though because ds did not like it. We may try it again in the future. We ended up going with and loving IEW. I only mention it because we bought the $10 over view dvd and with the helps on the yhoo group it has worked wonderfully! Just wanted to share.

The only thing you would need to add for a first grader is math and phonics if she is not already reading. I used copywork from the books too.

Do you set yearly goals for your children? I am looking for all types of goals, not just academic ones. DO you do this? Would you mind sharing some past and present goals?

For my family it helped my children love to learn, and love books. They found enjoyment in the snuggly couch learning time. They loved the stories. It is so simple, yet so effective. I copied this from their website in case you had not seen it, because for me it really is true: Five in a Row is more than just a set of lesson plans. It's an approach to learning that will forever change how both you, and your children view education, books and teaching.Five in a Row isn't a product to be advertised, sold and marketed, but rather a secret to be shared with your best friend. Explore this website, explore the message boards and ask questions. You'll receive honest, real-life answers from other moms who have successfully gone before you on the journey of homeschooling. Other programs have elaborate philosophies and glowing educational objectives, but Five in a Row has the solid testimony of 50,000 moms who have discovered what works- and what doesn't. Five in a Row produces extraordinary results... for ordinary moms... in the real world." FIAR is a savoring of books. It uses real living books to teach your children. For me, it was just a perfect fit. :D

Heather's blog (blog she wrote) is really great. I love her post on planning this year, and how she does grammar. She is probably the only blog I faithfully follow. There is another one here that was good that I followed for a while as they did their FIAR stuff but I haven't looked at it in a while. http://www.theshadesofpink.com/ Here is another good one, but I am not quite sure if she has Beyond on there or not http://blog.aussiepumpkinpatch.com/search/label/unit%20study One last help, there is a lady Kendall that is a wealth of information, and this is one of her posts that I saved that was a ton of help for me when we started into BY. From Kendall "My dd does lots of BY work independently. Here's how BYFIAR looks at my house: Monday: Read selected chapter(s) together. We each have a copy of the book and alternate reading pages/chapters aloud. Tuesday: We discuss/I teach selected lessons for the week. (The number of lessons varies.) I assign independent work due at the end of the week. Independent assignments usually include additional research on a person or topic. I try to be creative in assignments and allow her freedom on how she wants to present her material. (All of her work is keep in a 3-prong folder. She has one for each BY title. It is sort of lapbooking meets notebooking. ) Wednesday - Friday: My dd works on her own on her assignments. I avail myself to questions and assistance if needed. That's it! You can tweak this system for both of your girls by giving age appropriate assignments. For example, your 10yo may do more writing" HTH! If you want to PM me, I can go to FIAR and see what the hold up is on the help board, or Pm Steve and Jane. ;)

I know that there are several on the FIAR boards who blog about FIAR and Beyond. You could ask over there too if you have not already. ;) I only say that because there are several people that I have run into that did not even know FIAR had a message board.

We are loving it here too!

We loved it. As a matter of fact, my husband does not read much, he read this book. Then he asked us to get it for him for Father's day!! :001_smile: I listen to and read quite a bit of his teaching, and he is great.

I have used FIAR for 8 years now and love it!! As a matter of fact my 9yodd just asked last night if she could go back to doing FIAR. ;) Also, I have to agree with Ronette "I love that it has sparked my kids to love to learn and love books. My older kids have been reminiscing this week about their favorites from when they were little." That is so true in my family.

Or Biblioplan! ;) They schedule all 3 levels of learners, and have readers, and optional writing assignments. There is map and timeline work as well. I love MFW, I even recommend it to some of my friends who do not feel comfortable going it alone. I have used a few years, but all in all we are happier doing our own thing.

We are another that LOVES FIAR. We have used it for years for ages 4-8. The books and learning are easily adapted to older and younger. I even had my 10yo doing FIAR, just adapting the assignments. There is a MP3 download where the authors husband talks about having a 1 room school house where families work together on the same projects, on their level. FIAR is very adaptable. Those are the best years of our homeschooling.

I am no help, but I am considering the same thing. ;)

:iagree: Except we are supplementing where they need more practice with the Math Mammoth books. We LOVE Fred.

Yes,the label is a little EWWW! But I wanted to say Hey! I am glad to see you here!

Another question for Kindle/nook owners.... All the free books online ( from Old fashioned education etc..)- can I download those for free as well? Or do they have to be in Kindle/nook format?