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I've run into the same problem. It was giving my 4th grader topics from what it stated was 7th and 8th grade math. My kid is ahead in math, but not that far ahead. I had to teach the Pythagorean theorem for the problems Prodigy kept giving. And then it gives problems that require a calculator to boot (problems that require taking the square root of 1849, for example)--when we don't use a calculator for arithmetic during school. Part of the problem is that with a new account, Prodigy tries to guess where the student is in math by giving them a few problems per grade level and continuing to go up. It, unfortunately, doesn't seem to have a wide enough sampling at each grade before progressing and the student has to get several wrong in a row (losing battles in the process) to be moved back down. I get around it with a grade override for my older and assignments for my younger.

I'm glad you mentioned typing the lists. I've been pondering if I could have him type his lists and get the same benefits. When you do that, do you turn off the automatic​ marking of misspelled words? I was thinking of turning off auto correction, but leaving the red squiggly lines on, so that he'd get very immediate feedback on his spelling.

Thanks for your input, everyone. If anyone else can chime in with their experience, I'd appreciate it. :) When he was younger, he definitely liked direct teaching. He's been enjoying Beast Academy, which is discovery based, so it could be that he's ready for less direct instruction in other subjects, too. I do think he needs more practice spelling words correctly. I'm just not sure if giving him a program where he can blindly follow a pattern will give him that practice that sticks or if it will be a mindless thing that doesn't engage the "right" areas of his brain to stick long term.

If you've used Sequential Spelling, how did it go? What kind of student is your child? What personality traits/learning styles was it a good fit with? If it didn't, what makes it a poor fit? My son is good at seeing patterns. With AAS, this played out that he'd apply the spelling pattern for the lesson (which phonogram was being studied, for example) and do great during the lesson. But then he'd promptly forget it and bomb the reviews. I'm trying to figure out if Sequential Spelling would give us similar issues or if it would work off the pattern finding strength.

It's been a while, so my details may be off, but my library has all of her stories in cute little hardback books. They're maybe 4x6 and 50-60 pages each (about a paragraph per page), with plenty of color illustrations (every page, if I'm remembering correctly).

For Peter Pan​, we used the one illustrated by Robert Ingpen. But it strangely doesn't seem to be available new anymore. https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Pan-Wendy-Ken-Geist/dp/0439672570/ For Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, we used the ones illustrated by Hellen Oxenbury. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1406360430/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/0763642622/ For Wind in the Willows, we used the one illustrated by Michael Hague. https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Willows-Kenneth-Grahame/dp/0805072373/

I agree that they aren't supposed to have to guess at all. If there is any ambiguity as to which phonogram to use to make a sound, you tell them. For example, when spelling the word "skunk", I would tell my kids to use "tall /k/" or "the phonogram that only says /k/" (or however you want to identify k compared to c when doing the spelling lists) when they're trying to figure out what to use for the first /k/ sound in the word.

I can call it my "grammar stage set" and my "logic stage set" :D I understand that juggling all the different versions must be hard. It's not like you can just change the paper size and call it good. Unrelated to the size changes, have you considered putting a copy of the studied dictation passage in the workbooks? That way the students can mark it up/highlight it in whatever way will help them remember punctuation and spelling while they study the passage.

This makes me sad. Mostly because I have a little bit of completion OCD when it comes to books. I have the 6x9 for levels 1-4. Now they really won't match! Well, that and I hate having to hold a 8.5x11 book in my hands to read from. That size is better for desk work.

I thought I had edited the first post when I heard back that you were OK. I guess not. :blushing: Edited now!

Did anyone else find this a bit weird? That the letters are reversed from what one would assume.

The Scholastic Branches books tend to be full of pictures: http://www.scholastic.com/branches/

LOE requires more fine motor skills, because it teaches handwriting along with reading. There is no writing required for AAR. LOE has more whole body/gross motor games. AAR has sit at a table games.

My PreK kid participates in all our Mystery Science lessons, regardless of the age range listed. She doesn't always completely understand, but she gets some tidbit out of each one and enjoys them (in PreK in our house, participation is the child's choice). So you don't have to go by the age range. I'd use your free trial time to take a look at some of the mysteries for older kids to gauge if they'll work for your 1st grader.

I see that you have 3 math curriculum for each child and that you are doubling up on grammar and writing for your 2nd grader. Unless your kids really enjoy math, you probably would want at most one main curriculum with maybe one thing used as a supplement. And FLL/WWE is plenty for grammar and writing, especially if you do narrations with SOTW.

I have not seen much of a written component to any of the mysteries we've done. I, personally, don't think it would be appropriate, either. For one, Mystery Science is mostly meant for elementary students, and I don't think they should necessarily be writing lab reports. For another, many of the activities don't even pretend to be experiments. If it's not a proper experiment, why write a lab report? There have been a few that could count as experiments, and those do have sheets to collect data. But it wasn't a formal experiment with a hypothesis written down and a lab write up at the end.

I personally feel that LOE C&D have a very different feel than A&B. There were a lot of activities/exercises that we skipped in level C. And after looking at level D previews, I didn't even want to purchase it. They both feel kind of "public schooly". But, I've not come across anyone else that feels that way. And I've gotten plenty of "you're crazy" looks when I've mentioned it, so it might just be me. :laugh:

I don't want to derail too much here, but if something like this is the case, what sort of things should I encourage from my children (other than patience with their friend) to help them help him?

My kids have a friend that does that. But their friend is totally bossy about it. He'll play with his lego figures and narrate what is happening. But then he'll do the same thing with other kids. He'll tell them exactly what they're supposed to say and how they're supposed to react to actions, etc. Sometimes my kids go along with it, and sometimes they avoid him because they don't want to be bossed around and treated like live action toys.

MOTL came out with a worksheet generator for their 5-a-day. It could also be used with any math program to create a spiral review of concepts already learned. I thought I'd share for anyone using MOTL or anyone that has wanted to make custom review sheets. https://www.mathonthelevel.com/5-a-day-review/online-essentials

There's certainly more than vision, because that wouldn't explain speech issues. For a developmental optometrist, does eye insurance typically cover that? If so, it may need to wait a year, as we've used the annual exam benefit already this year. He's a bright kid, especially in math. I've always wondered if maybe he's able to compensate for some learning disability (such as dyslexia) and thus makes it less obvious. I have an older version of the Brigance CIBS ( http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.aspx?title=BrigCIBSII ). Would any of those tests be something that could give helpful information while we figure out insurance/evaluations? (ETA: here's the table of contents of the version I have: https://www.curriculumassociates.com/professional-development/ca101/downloads/bricomp.pdf )

There certainly could be vision issues. He wears glasses, but has only ever gone to a normal eye doctor for those. They've had a hard time pinpointing his prescription the past two years. I want to clarify about the stuttering. He doesn't do it all the time. He does it when he's excited or when he's thinking hard about what to say (like when giving an oral narration). It pops up sometimes during normal conversation, but it isn't very noticeable then.

My son has always had some difficulties with language. He was a late talker. We got him assessed for speech delays when he was 2, but the testing lady was satisfied with his receptive language (since he could follow instructions) and his expressive language (since he would imitate sound effects and animal sounds). Learning to read was slower for him than other skills. He recently bombed the spelling portion of his standardized tests (13th percentile, compared to being over 85th percentile for everything else). I don't think the testing was a fluke or bad day, as he also struggles with spelling during school. He does not seem to pick up vocabulary for reading/read alouds. He stutters, but not so badly that it interferes with communication. Other than spelling, he does well in school. His writing isn't where I want it to be, but I have seen improvement this last school year, so I'm happy with his progress. We've done many OG based programs (he learned to read with LOE Foundations A-C, has done levels 1-3 of AAS, and levels 1-4 of RLTL). This year we have done my own version of Spelling You See where he highlights chunks, copies, studies, and writes from dictation. I don't know if I should get him assessed, and if I do, what kind of tests would we even need him to do? Is there a different spelling program that would work? It seems he learns well enough to just remember for the lesson and then immediately forgets (for example, he really does know that /shun/ is typically spelled 'tion', but he spelled 'information' as 'informashen' during his testing). AAS was a flop with him because he would see the pattern of the lesson, apply it to the lesson, and then forget about it.