I'm not familiar with Bible Heroes, but we do use IEW materials for writing and spelling. Some suggest it's possible to use their writing books without the dvds. I would not. The dvd seminar teaches you how to teach each unit. It may seem costly but if you stick with IEW you be using the seminar for some time. Also, once you are through with it, the resale value is great - 50 - 75% of original cost is a reasonable expectation. And once you understand the approach you could use other subjects as the basis for writing lessons using the IEW approach. THat would mean no further investment in writing materials. Jim

Last I checked, Rainbow Resource still had the editions Art Reed suggests.

I believe they offer the accompanying notebooks for $19. Try this: http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/sim-a Jim

Yikes, I failed to check the notifications section. I sorry so much time has passed. We finished FLL along side Essentials because we loved FLL. The lessons were targeted and quick. We also spoke to our CC director at the time we were first signing up for Essentials and she suggested EEL was not enough. She had been leading our group for a number of years and, as I understand it, ours is one of the oldest and largest in Georgia. She seemed to know what she was doing. We were leaning toward Hake and she suggested it was a good choice. We heard the same regarding Hake from the Challenge A instructor we will join forces with next year. I have a personal bias toward grammar and writing instruction. First, I am terrible at both (I actually enjoy completing assignments with ds12 and attending Essentials sessions when I have the opportunity). Second, I'm a writer by trade so those facts are driven home daily. Third, I don't want my boys to share my experience. I can't ensure it won't happen but I'm doing my best to give them every opportunity to learn how to communicate effectively. Having witnessed two years of Essentials I don't think running a second writing program is too much, even if its IEW based. The papers are short and we can adjust what we do at home accordingly. The last part is key - We are willing to adjust assignments as needed. Jim

Yes. I copy that, both sides, for each lesson. The idea is that they learn to keep the work neat. I would also suggest you have your student either box the final answer or highlight it. All this is an attempt to have them prepared for the more complicated work that comes later. Jim

Our two Ds are spread so we continue to use the resourse. The younger does the typical stuff for elem. years. The older listens to the chapter. We check the resourse guide to find the appropriate pages for the Kingfisher and readsthose as well. He also finds books on a particular subject he's read about. A bit of outlining etc and he has a lesson that matches his age. Check WTM's middle school years for an outline. There is also a section written to those that have children spread as we do. Jim

We started with the teacher/student combo (SWI - A). I think you could get away with just the student part but it makes sense to learn the complete system. We have used the theme based books but believe it would be difficult to start with those. The student set tells you (actually the student) exactly what to do. It tells the teacher when to watch parts of the teacher set. After going through a year of Andrew teaching the student you could move on to the theme based or to a continuation disk course and continue to let Andrew do the teaching. Remember, while it seems expensive, if you buy directly from them they have a 100% return policy. Also, after you;re done with material the resale value is extremely high, I'd say in the 75% range so the actual cost is low. Jim

The upper grades have a grid sheet in one of the books that we copy, one for every lesson. If more room is needed you can take any type, though I prefer blank sheets and dividing it into four squares so there is plenty of room for the student to show all work - step by step. The lower grades (k-3) had worksheets, front and back. Jim

Yes, there is a sentence example to put the word into context. The spelling rule is also repeated every third word. The second track for each card offers the correct spelling.

This will be ds1's fourth year in Foundations and third year in Essentials. We treat CC as a separate subject so still complete other subjects such as grammar (FLL followed by Hake) at home. Essentials grammar is used as a review. He has always been good memorizing things and CC has helped tremendously. He's earned Memory Master during cycles 3 and 1. His goal is to earn it for Cycle 2 this coming year, to complete the entire cycle before heading into Challenge A. ds2 has his heart set on Memory Master. Frankly, I don't see how it would be possible for a six year old but I know children his age have accomplished it at his age. Ds1 will continue with Hake 6 this year. I have SWI-Continuation Course A cued up for the fall. I do not believe it will overwhelm him if it's anything like SWI-A. I found the writing exercises in Essentials short and believe he should be able to handle both courses fine. Of course we will adjust as needed. We'll be pushing reading, discussion, and writing this year in preparation for Challenge. Jim

Ds11 does both Foundations and Essentials and we still complete a grammar program at home. it hasn't been too much for him. We treat the grammar time in Essentials as secondary and he mostly listens. Jim

Exactly, don't do both. 8/7 is for those that might need more of a review but will also get the pre-Alg material. 1/2 is for those that did well in 7/6 and don't need as much review. Completing either prepares for the next step. By having both books Saxon built in a potential extra year for those not ready to advance.

We've used SWI-A and the US History and Ancient History programs and did not run into religious content. SWI had paragraphs about star fish, sea snakes etc. Should be usable by all. If you buy the material from IEW directly you can return it at any time (they will pay postage) if you're unhappy with it. Jim

She also has a audio download regarding Writing for the High School Student. We're a long way from that and while I've listened to it the specifics escape me. I do remember that the recording was well done, as they all are. Jim

Ds will be moving into Saxon 2 and MM2a. He likes math.

Grammar: Continue with IEW's PAL Reading and Writing. (We have FLL but might hold off until 2nd and do 1 and two in a single year. We did that after pulling older ds out of ps and it worked out well.) Writing: Included in PAL but we have WWE too. (Might start WWE in 2nd) Spelling: We have Spelling Workout as a filler until 3rd when we would look to start IEW's program. Math: Saxon 2 and MM History: The WTM way. (lots or reading together) Science: The WTM way. (lots of reading together) We do CC. (cycle 2 next time around and, it's a stretch but, we might shoot for Memory Master) We'll likely add a simple art music study the CM way. Other than the basics I want to dramtyically increase the amount of reading. Obviously, it will read aloud but that will be a change from the path we took with the older ds. Reading, which I value greatly (as a result of looking at my education) hasn't taken hold and I'd like to make an effort to change that..

Ds writes in a notebook. We does every problem as the author intended and it's not all that much writing. Takes very little time. It pales in comparison to when I had to write out every single word of every chapter in the Warriner's (was that the old standard?) back in the day. We're saving the text for the younger ds. That is, unless FLL is extended by then. I learned so much from that series.

A pp is correct regarding the minimum purchase needed - the CC guide and tin whistle. While we bought the different sets of cards and audio recording it would be possible to create your own cards using the guide, though the history cards would not have pictures. CC Connect may be helpful. Last year we found a poster had created miniture review cards and we printed and laminated them. Connect is month-to-month so you could try it befroe buying all the extras. Jim

I contacted her in December regarding the upgrade after my purchase a couple years ago. I immediately received a download link, no questions asked..

You could do it without the disks but I would check with friends to see if anyone has them. There is no need to watch all of them before starting the program but watching them will make it easier for you to see where the program is going and allow you to offer deeper explanations. Beg, borrow, or steal (just return it when you're done). Jim

We started it in second grade after pulling ds out of ps. He had not had any grammar instruction so we thought we'd start at the beginning. Lessons were short enough that he did not mind covering the basics and he very much enjoyed showing how quickly he could memorize the poems. Ds easily completed FLL 1 and 2 in a single year. We'll likely follow the same path for our current K'er. Jim

We're using Dive with 6/5 to give ds a taste of working more on his own. It's fine but I'll likley give Art Reed a chance with the next book. The live teacher approach might be better tha the blackboard.

We went with Hake. Of course we like Saxon Math so Hake fit nicely. Short lessons allow ds to drive this one mostly on his own.

Same here. I asked the folks at the PHP booth a few HS shows ago and they suggested minimal changes. I believe they suggested a few pictures were made boy friendly. I think I read somewhere that the copywork parts might have been reduced due to the popularity of WWE. At the end of the day, if you believe it offered a solid foundation before it will do so again. Jim

I've often read about folks taking to opposite approach. They DO NOT grade the daily work but DO grade the tests. We complete the assignments and tests as written and check everything.