I've not used Shirley, but I know of it from one of the private schools in town. I use R&S with my oldest. My only thought right off the top of my head is Shirley's emphasis is on parsing and R&S diagrams. One might work better or not as well depending on your child. If your child is NOT detail orientated I would stay away from parsing. We used Analytical Grammar for a short bit and my son HATED it. It focused on parsing. If your child does well with details Shirley would be just fine. My son thrives on R&S... he's a big picture guy and diagramming makes much more sense to him. We only use R&S for the grammar portion, not the writing, so I can't speak much to the writing portion.

Does anybody know of an online timeline or computer based timeline you can create yourself? We've tried the wall, tried Pandia Press's that goes with the HO we're doing, tried individual notebooks, tried individual butcher paper..... Maybe we just don't like making timelines? :001_huh:

This is excellent! Thank you! :001_smile:

Thanks for the ideas! Life got crazy for awhile and I couldn't get back here. I will check those ideas out! I know the best way for us to learn is to be there, but I'm hoping to at least get a little start now. It looks like we may take a visit there in Oct. so it would be great to be able to practice a little while we're there!

Anybody?

This is very much our experience. I think the most important thing is to find a writing program you can understand, stand behind and teach... then just stick with it.

We used HO this past year with my 5th grader. He enjoys history and it's been extremely independent for him. I've seen a lot of people complain about Story of Mankind, but he hasn't had any trouble with it. I asked him what he thinks and he says it's interesting. Now, he reads just about anything put in front of him so that could have something to do with it. He will be using HO again next year.

That's great you're seeing progress! Isn't it great when things start to click? My ds11 has been doing WWS this year too. He is not a natural writer and so we've really had to work hard through each step. He had a rough start, was able to work independently for a while, but now I'm back to walking him through everything but the actual writing of the pieces. Like you, I'm okay with it. I know none of my kids are natural writers so they need a lot of hand holding. I, also, am looking forward to the day when this hard work pays off. I know it will as he's come so far using WWE and WWS already! I'm so grateful to SWB for sharing her talents of teaching writing with us! I would be lost without it! :001_smile: Whenever I hear my friends complain about the amount or type of writing their children are made to do in school (both public and private) I am so grateful we have an alternative!

Thanks everyone! Very good things to think about. He's doing well with just putting a dot in the middle of the bubble. I am going to have to clean it up for him, but I'll do that and not feel bad about it. I would never change his answers, just clean it up. I will investigate the paper trail issue. Good points! His eyes have been checked... developmentally he is just behind in some areas. He does have an eye condition that causes one eye to wander, but it doesn't seem to be effecting his reading/writing. He has even been in a study at a major hospital that did lots of tests on how his eyes worked together. We tried OT, but all they did was work on handwriting which I can do for a lot less than $300/hour! I wasn't happy with OT at all. He's had so many other appointments that I gave up on it for now. His writing is improving so I'm not too worried, he's just slow to develop in some areas. Thanks everyone!

GAPS Diet = Gut and Psychology Syndrome it's a very strict protocol to heal the gut, which in turn creates a healthier body relieving symptoms of asthma, allergies and even autism.

We are very seriously contemplating the GAPS diet for our whole family starting the end of May. We have many digestion issues and allergies (both food and environmental), as well as asthma and one of my kids is on the autism spectrum. I'm hoping cleaning up our guts will help with these issues. Have any of you done it/doing it now? Introduction looks very overwhelming to me. The worst part is my kids HATE soup. Like, if you asked my younger two boys what their least favorite food is they would both say "SOUP!" without hesitation! I know this would be good in the long-run, but seems very overwhelming in the short run. Any advice? Thanks!;)

I think the dot would be a good idea. I am giving him the test so that should work. They are right next to the answer, but the issue is the small nature of the dot. He can't color in lines to save his life... those dots are going to drive him nuts and I'll have to do all kinds of erasing if I let him do it. I think a small dot in the center would be fine though... then I'll go through and fill them in. Thanks!

My 8 year old needs to take the ITBS this year per state regulations. I'm not worried about his academic performance, but I don't think he's going to be able to fill in the tiny bubbles well because of fine motor control issues. What have you done with your kiddos that struggle in this way?

Heh, heh... well we tried something a little unconventional this year. We memorized them by learning . Everyone loved learning it and even my 6 yo can sing the whole song and point to all the states and capitals on a map. Now we're working on the countries of the world song! :001_smile: (My kids are 11, 10, 8 and 6) OOps, sorry... see you've used this. I guess I'm not too worried at this point if my 6 year old has to sing the song. As he gets older he'll be able to recall just the verse he would need. I think just being able to sing the song is GREAT for a 6 y/o....

After much searching I've landed on MUS Algebra for my oldest's pre-algebra year. I also have a Dolchini pre-algebra text and complete answer key that I stick in if he needs some extra practice, harder word problems, etc.

My 5th grader is doing Level 2 ancients this year and has done really well with it. It was a little to train him into it, but about 1/2 way through he really got in a groove and he's pretty much independent. The only thing I would worry about is going too far up in the level 2 series with a 5th grader. You would most likely have to adjust the writing expectations (unless he's a really good writer). We use some of the lit suggestions, but not all... you could always substitute other books if some seemed beyond him. I would say if your 5th grader is quite capable you could likely get away with it. If he struggles a bit my initial thought would be you'd likely have to adjust a few things. My ds11 really enjoys history and this year has been great with HO. He'll do Middle Ages Level 2 next year. It's challenging and I think a great curriculum! :001_smile:

We started with MUS. I had a preschooler in the Primary book all the way up to my oldest in Epsilon. I based my decision to switch to MM on my oldest. He's a pretty mathy kid and MUS was boring him to tears. He started hating math and that's not him. So, I moved everyone to MM and that's what we've been using for the past couple years. The reasons I switched were... MUS seemed to only have one kind of problem for each lesson. Pages and pages of the same type of problems, no variety in how the problems are presented. The word problems did not make my son think. He could basically answer the word problem by plugging numbers into a formula. My kids did love the videos and cried when I told them there wouldn't be any more videos! Now, I have to admit I'm probably going back to MUS for my dd. She is NOT mathy and hates MM. She also cannot be independent with it. She's a tactile learner. She would do better with not having to figure out how to do each section of the page. She would do much better just being able to master the concept by doing the same kind of problem over and over. So... we are going to give the switch back a try. I'm also going to have her work through LOF as I think it will fit her well and will provide a bit of the things that I think are missing from MUS. I'm also going to have my older son do MUS Algebra for his pre-algebra year. Not sure that helps... probably makes things worse! Basically, if your child is mathy I think he/she may be bored. MM has worked much better for my mathy boys.

I think part of it might have to do with how your child learns best as well. My oldest has done Prima, LCI and is now on First Form with Second Form on the table for next year. I wanted him to have at least 2 years of Latin, but he loves it so I'm going to let him do it as long as he wants. He is a booky kid and learns well with the structured grammar learning in Memoria Press stuff. He is good at English grammar which helps. I have Spanish for Children and if I had seen that would have been a good choice for Latin as well. It's very grammar based, quite similar to MP stuff. Now, my dd9 did Prima last year and LC1 this year. She's doing well, but the declensions are harder for her. I'm considering changing things up for her next year and going with a different approach as I don't see First Form really fitting her. So... along with what is easy for you to teach, I'd also consider a bit how your child learns best. I'm going to have to look at Latin threads to figure out if I should switch dd next year so I'm kind of in the same boat! Also... the LC1 DVD's are dreadful, but my ds is enjoying the First Form DVD's this year. He's now surpassed me in Latin so the DVDs are a must here. I did try the LC1 DVD with my dd this year and she hated Latin while using them and could not pick up the declensions. As soon as I stopped making her watch the DVD and taught her myself she started loving Latin and learned her declensions in a couple weeks.

We are likely moving to Japan within the next couple years. I'd like to get a little head start on language learning. I know the best way to learn a language is immersion and we'll get there... I just thought it would be good to have a little head start. So, I found a thread on Japanese and was hoping maybe those who were involved in the thread might give me some feedback on what has worked well. Right now I'm contemplating Irasshai or The Learnables. I'm not crazy about Rosetta Stone. I think it's too expensive for what you get. Are there other options that I should consider? We're planning on doing this as a family as we'll all need to learn Japanese! :D Our kids are ages 11, almost 10, 8 and 6. Thanks for any input!

We are also anxiously awaiting the next level! My ds11 is NOT a natural writer and the second half of WWS has certainly been a challenge for him, but I'm sold that this is the best way to teach/learn writing! We're keeping our fingers crossed Susan can pull off the next level by fall! :D

We love ES! I've used all the grammar levels and my ds11 is currently working through Logic Bio. There is a link to a sample of Grammar Chemistry on this page. Paige is really good about answering questions when they pop up and there is a yahoo group for support as well. If you want to do WTM style science with the work all done for you I would highly suggest ES!

Now that I look back over my question I'm impressed you actually were able to figure out what I was asking! I don't know what happened there. Really, English is my first language! :001_huh: Thanks for the input. I'm learning my dd is SO different than my oldest ds. I'll have to look at MCT a bit more. I knew my oldest would not have liked it, but it might be good for my dd.

Thanks Colleen, I'm such an "all or nothing" type person that I forget I could start WWS part way through the year! Right now I'm leaning toward this for the first 1/2 of 5th grade and then evaluate from there to see what we should do. Thanks for mentioning starting WWS part way in. It seems obvious, but again... I tend to be "all or nothing!" :D

I've heard that MCT is quite a differs a lot in it's philosophy/approach to writing as compared to WWE. Am I correct in that?

Okay, so my oldest son is thriving this year in his 5th grade studies. He can independently do most things. I've chosen challenging curriculum for him and he loves it and does very well. My dd who is almost 10 will be in 5th grade next year. She is not the same as my older ds at all! She is not independent in much, has a hard time reading for information, still loves coloring and projects, is not interested in "being challenged". I would call her a "sociable sue" learner from Cathy Duffy's information.. which is kind of funny because she's very introverted, but in her learning she really needs to interact with me. We are s l o w l y working on independence, but she's really just not ready yet in the major content areas (history and science) I'm working on getting her more independent, but I've learned with her it just takes time. She resisted for the longest time reading chapter books (had the ability... she's a strong reader, just didn't want to read longer books) and now she buzzes through chapter books like there's no tomorrow and loves reading. She still reads her comic books, but for school she is finally interested in more complicated stories. It just took time and I didn't push and she came along nicely. So.... all that to say I have a dilemma on my hands for next year. She is nowhere near ready for logic stage. My son entered "logic stage" at about age 9 whereas she will be 10 and she's not even close. So, most of the material I'm using for my older ds will not fit my dd next year. I've got most things figured out, but writing is giving me trouble. My older ds is doing WWS this year and it is very challenging for him. None of my kids are natural writers. My dd will NEVER make it through next year. I'm simplifying many of the dictations in WWE4 as it is. She does fairly well with narrations, but still needs the guidance of me asking her the leading questions. What do I do for writing next year? She will DIE if I redo WWE4 with her. That is not an option. Now, the skills I think she still needs work on so I'm planning on having her do writing in history and science to cover narration work. I'll choose some weekly dictation from history or science. But, do I need a program? I feel like I need a "buffer" year for my child who is at the top of the grammar stage, but not quite yet ready for logic. On a completely different note... do we know anything about the availability of early copies of WWS2 this next year? I'm really hoping it will be available as my ds will be ready for it and we both love it (well as much as my non-writer ds can love writing!) SWB is just brilliant in her ability to help me teach writing! I could NOT do that on my own! :D