We are going to use WWE for all my younger children...but that won't help me here! My 10yo dd is very artistic, great in Math, and really doesn't like writing very much. We used CW this year...which was an absolute disaster...and then have finished the year with Writing Tales 1. WT was better...much better really, but still, not her style (at all). IEW, I'm pretty sure, would put her completely over the edge. I need to find her something that changes things up more. That the lessons are short and to the point, and gets the job done. A little color on the pages would probably help a great deal! She likes workbooks. She likes to see the beginning and end of a lesson and see her obvious progress. That brought me to Jump-In...which looks great, but I don't really know anything about it. I saw the samples on-line and liked the looks of it. I would love to know how this has worked for others and what was used after it was completed? (I'm a little worried about using a program that will only last for a couple years and then dump us off to be confused again, about where to go next.) Also, I've been looking at Writing Strands...probably level 3. This seems to be a lot the same format, but just a little more simplistic look to the pages. I do LOVE that we could start with it, and follow it through high school and I wouldn't feel like I was missing too much. Any advice or opinions would be really appreciated!

We will be finishing up K12's 1st grade phonics with my youngest 2 (5 and 6 years old still). This is the biggest "must do." I am hoping to be done with phonics entirely, by fall, and ready to move to grammer/spelling/writing with them both. They are on track and doing well, and I don't want to loose ground now. I will have my 5, 6, 8, & 10yo's do a couple math review pages a week. Dd 13, will start and complete VideoText Algebra Module C. (She will be doing this pretty much every day, after most of the month of June off.) I ordered, by 10yo's request, A World of Adventure. This will help us review ancient history over the summer. It will also give us a light dose of grammer, science, art and music, and good amount of literature. This will be our summer spine. I'm excited about it and think it will work well for my middle kids. I plan to do as much as possible, and finish with it summer 2009, as a review of this coming school year (SOTW 2), as it goes through much of ancient and middle ages history. I'm actually really excited about schooling through the summer...however, I want the kids to relax and have fun, more than anything else. They've worked hard for 180 days, and they deserve a little down time. Also, I really, really need to read something fun for myself! I need to get the planning out of the way for fall, and then give myself a nice little break. I'm suffering from mom-time withdrawl. I have none! :001_smile:

Dd wants to use Rosetta Stone French for next year, the new homeschool version. After all that I've read on this board about how bad it is, I'm really worried about what she will learn, or not, from it. She's looked at all the of the samples of every French program I could find, and likes it the best. I'm torn. Is there something I can add to it, to make it worthy of a high school credit, or is it just a lost cause? A tutor is not a possibility here. TIA!

Dd watched all the demos, and liked VideoText better. (She hates Math.) We finished module B today, and so far, so good. Oh, and she is 13, as of last week.

CLE LA 4, Light unit 405, section1, lesson 1, is indeed, 5 3/4 pages long. I went back to count, since I never actually did...just took her word on it. Thank you so much everyone for all of your wonderful comments and insight. These two dd's are not complainers...so that is what made me really think about it. They both really enjoy grammer too. Anyway, I'll take all the comments and really think it through, and then pray about what to do next. Right now, I'm actually thinking about Learning Adventures for next year. Maybe even Winter Promise. My oldest is such a "brainy" kid...and I was just following along with the others...but the other girls (not my son...he's more like my oldest dd) are the more artistic type. They think differently, and maybe they need materials that are presented in a very different manner. However, I love CLE, and what and how it teaches. I've just got to think on this for awhile. Thank goodness for summer break! Thank you, thank you, thank you to every who contributed. So much great wisdom in one place!

Thanks Tracy! Yes, I'm on that group, but haven't asked the question there yet. I need to. I never even thought about the odds or evens thing. Thanks for the input!

Ok, so we started using CLE Language Arts this spring. (This is our first full year of homeschooling, and I found that Rod and Staff was not a good fit.) We did finish the year of Rod and Staff around the end of March, and then we switched to CLE. I love CLE! I love how it puts everything together and streamlines everything! I love how clearly it lays out ideas and concepts so that my dc can understand and refer back to lessons. However, my 10yo dd, begs to differ. My 8yo doesn't really like it either, and for the same reasons... They both think that the lessons are way, way too long. This morning my 10yo did a 6 page lesson and it took her well over an hour. She says that she would rather have multiple programs that hop around, to keep her interested, rather than have a long lesson in one format. FWIW, they are both really good at grammer concepts and spelling, and the levels I started them out at, are almost entirely review, but it hasn't made a difference. I'm wondering what will happen next year, when we forge into new territory. Splitting the lessons in half, really won't work. They need the same amount of time for those subjects each day...but they want it more broken up. Not the time broken up, but the materials. Over the course of most of the year, they used Sequential Spelling, Rod and Staff, and Zaner-Bloser to cover these same subjects. I know that GWG is out there, and yes, it looks totally great...but then I would have to add spelling for both and handwriting for my 8yo. This short spell with CLE, and then over the summer, was my trial-run period. I want to start the school year next fall, with the "right" thing, and then stick with it forever and ever and ever and ever! OK, maybe wishful thinking, but still. I do not like to hop around with things. My brain doesn't function well that way. I feel like I either need to tell my dd's that we are sticking with it, and that they just have to get it done and get used to it, or I need to switch during the summer and be done with it. What do you do when children complain about a program that you know is working well, but they just don't like it?? To switch or not to switch, that is the question!:confused:

Well... Haven't used the others, but love MUS here! I've got a mathy 10yo dd that loves it, a very, very, very non-mathy 8yo that ADORES it to pieces (she was lost in math before, and now can do it all, and do it well, and understands everything that made her cry before) I have a 7yo dd who actually asks me to do more math. I have a 6yo ds, who understands math better than any of his public schooled friends. True or false, it has been the best program choice I will probably ever make. TRUE!! Yep, yep, yep! Sorry...don't have time to go back and anser all your questions right now...but I would highly recommend...and hope to heck I don't steer you wrong. :001_smile:

We are considering AWOA for at least part of next year also, and I am reading this thread with great interest. In fact, my 10yo dd loves history so much, that she asked to continue school over the summer, so as to have more history. We just finished SOTW 1 this month, so I ordered AWOA for over the summer. We will see how it goes, and then decide what to do from there, for fall. I'm wondering what I would miss out on, if we decided to use AWOA next year, rather than going with a more classical approach?? Is it a really, really "lite" program? Not rigorous enough for college bound students? I would so, so love to have something with integrated everything! It looks like so much fun...but maybe knowledge is sacraficed for the fun? Does anyone have an opinion on how much material is presented, and whether or not it measures up to a year of say... SOTW, Apologia Science, CLE Language Arts and Reading?? This would be for an advanced 3rd grader and a "normal" 5th grader. Thanks!

Hi! I don't often post on this board, but I'm really needing some great ideas! My best friend just had her 3rd baby, and her first boy. They are not sure if they will be able to have more, so this is a very big deal to all of us. Anyway, I've been trying to decide on a baby gift for months, and have come up without any really good plans. We live in a very "cowboy" area of the country, so I was thinking little boots and a hat...but that has been done too much around here. His Daddy is a fireman, so I was thinking a firetruck toy of some sort...but not sure if that is right either. We have a little blanket for him that is very nice, but not enough for this occasion. I need something else to go with it. We didn't know eachother back when her girls were born, so I don't have any sort of issues with needing to do something similar. However, this the best friend I've ever had as an adult, and her husband and mine are buddies too. I really want to get something super special for them...more as a token of love and friendship, than just a baby gift. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

MUS~Made Math "click" for my dd, who didn't get it at all...and the rest love it too! SOTW~Adore History here, and this keeps it to the "good" stuff, and I can add in the "fluff" when we like! Even my 13yo LOVES to listen to me read this aloud...just for fun, in her case! CLE Language Arts~This is a recent addition, but it is going so well. Love, love the workbook format. So much easier for the kids to track progress. Tidy and to the point! We've tried lots of other things that others listed, for better or worse, but these are the best! More concrete over the long haul...and complete programs the I can rely on for the entire journey for which they are intended.

I have more than 2, but it would work the same, I think. This is only my second year homeschooling, and I am a pretty intense person, so if it isn't killing me off yet, then I think it would work for most. We start the day with our religious work. Everyone together. After that, my children that are the ages of your children, have silent reading time. (They are reading the same novels this year.) (I have to work with a K'er and 1st grader too.) After they are done with silent reading, they do CLE Language Arts. This is mostly independent, with me right there to help and go over everything, and they are working at their own grade level. After that, they both do math, using MUS, on their own level. They like the dvd's, and watch those, and then I am right there to help and do more explaining. Ususally they don't need me at the same time, but if they do, they wait. After that, they do WT together. (This works for us because the younger of the two is advanced in Lang. Arts. Same with the novels I chose for this year actually.) They enjoy WT together. We discuss the stories together and such. After that, they move to History, using SOTW, and then Science, which is Apologia Astronomy this year. It works well. We have "upside down" days too, where we begin at the end of the normal schedule, and work backwards...which also works well. The others are either older, and thus a big more independent, or younger, and more in need of mom. I have found that our days have naturally taken on a schedule that works for us. I was so worried about it in the beginning...had a 6th, 3rd, 1st, K'er and preschooler back then...but it seems like, I should have just relaxed and let it happen. There are some days that we don't follow either the "normal" schedule, or the "upside down" version. Days when the oldest does a wonderful science project that everyone enjoys, and then the whole thing is thrown off.

I've been looking at Sonlight a little, but am still totally confused as to how the program actually works, and what you can achieve by using it. I've used TOG in the past, and I am wondering if the Cores are pretty much the same idea as Tapestry?? History, Literature, discussion?? What subjects, exactally, can be covered using SL cores?? I've looked at the online samples, but it still isn't sinking in. Also, I'm wondering if it would be possible to use Core 3 for all of my younger children? They will be in 5th, 3rd (reading well above grade level), 2nd (will most likely be reading at a 3rd grade level by fall), and 1st (will be reading at 2nd grade level in the fall). Is it possible to use Core 3, for a fabulous American history course, for all of these levels? I think I am pretty good at altering for the youngers, but am more concerned about it not being appropriate for my 5th grader. On their web site, however, SL says you can use Core 3 up to 6th grade? Also, if I choose to use SL, do I have to buy *all* of the books?? We have access to an incredible library system, so I'm wondering if I have to have the specific editions of the specific books, or if it would work to use whatever editions I can get my hands on?? (It is not a problem to get multiple volumes of the same book, for my 5th and 3rd graders. And they do read on about the same level...6th.) I would love any and all insight on this. I have been waffling between SOTW 2 and some version of American history for my younger crew for this coming year (older dd is doing American history). I can't believe I still haven't been able to make a decision. The children love history soooooo much, that they are no help in the decision process. They just tell me they want to learn it all! Thanks!

We started over with one of my dd's. She is such a smart kid, but her math program was leaving a big hole in her understanding. We bought Alpha for her, and I had her watch the dvd lessons and do one or two pages of lesson material one day, the next day she started out by taking the test. If she aced the test, then she moved forward to the next lesson, that very day, and so forth. If I found a gap in her understanding she did a couple more pages of practice before moving on. This got her through the entire year's work in a very short period of time, and now she is right on track to finish her current year's work at the end of our school year, at the end of this month, and will be on track in the fall. I did the same thing with one of my older dd's, who wanted to make the switch from Rod and Staff to MUS. She was finishing up Rod and Staff 4. I had her switch in MUS Delt, and using the same format, finish out her year with it. It has worked beautifully. Now she can move forward, without my concern that she has missed something vital. The great beauty of MUS is it's flexability for learning and understanding at different speeds.

Ok, I just read on a previous post that someone recommends not doing writing with LL, because it includes writing projects. What is the general feeling on this? I've decided to use LL American Lit for next year. We will do both early and late, following the Honors program. Do I need to use a seperate writing program? Is there any writing instruction included?

Webster's New World! :001_smile:

That does help! Thanks! My biggest concern are the physics and chemistry equations and concepts. She did well, but not well enough to just drop it and never see it again. I'm sure, if they go back over these things in later classes, that they start over with explanation too. I doubt they expect students to remember it from several years back. Thanks! We will put the course away for my next dd, and not worry.

Thanks so much for all the great suggestions! I have KF here, and I looked up the outlining instructions for 5th...that looks perfect for her. We will add some lit. to that, and the time line from Hannah (LOVED the one for this year!), and do our mapwork. My only question is on the maps in SOTW 2...I haven't seen them yet. Are they appropriate for a 5th grader, or do I need to find something more detailed? It is great to know that I'm not alone in combining my 5th grader for SOTW!

Hi! We did Physical Science this year, and I am wondering how long my dd is going to retain all of that info. I'm really hoping that these subjects (Apologia Physical Sc.) will be touched on later. This is our oldest, so I have no idea what we will get a shot at again later. My only science love was for Environmental Science...Geology and such. I'm hoping we get another opportunity for learning these formulas again later...when it is closer to testing time? Thanks!

Next year we will be using: CLE Language Arts and Reading 3 cursive copywork WWE My own literature program MUS Gamma SOTW 2 Apologia Botany Artistic Pursuits Hopefully piano lessons various other music appreciation resources

We have settled on SOTW 2 for next year. I will be using it for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th graders. My 5th grader loves history, and I think I could have have her step up and do a little more than SOTW on its own. We LOVE SOTW though, (this child in particular has a great love for it) and I want to keep her with us on that. (I read aloud, we do a large portion of the AG.) This dd is a young 5th grader, both in age and in academics. While I want to give her more to accomplish, she won't do well if I over load her. She reads only about one year level ahead of her grade, and is a recovering-reluctant writer. She loves the accomplished feeling of reading literature...maybe Truthquest for its booklist would work for her? Our budget is very, very tight for this year...so nothing too pricey, like TOG. TIA!!

I'm in Cheyenne too! That would be great! Kelly

We were in Maui a couple years ago. I wouldn't bother going back. It was nice, but not a thrill. I liked Puerto Rico and the Bahamas much better. The water in the Bahamas is absolutely gorgeous. Turquoise blue. Dh loves snorkelling, and was seriously not impressed with Maui. It may be better on the other islands...not sure on that. So awesome for snorkelling and scuba diving in the Bahamas. Also, depending on where you are in the US, the flight is a lot shorter. It is also really fun to go to the "out islands" in the Bahamas. Few people...quiet (opposite of the crazy tourist thing in Maui). We like more "authentic" places to visit. More adventure...not so obvious. However, my parents absolutely adore Maui...also my sil and bil. I guess it all depends on what kind of a vacation you enjoy. If you go to Maui, do the road to Hana and go see the waterfalls after you pass Hana, the zipline is a ton of fun...the helicopter rides are not so much. The submarine rides are great. The mountain that is really pointy...can't remember the name...is pretty to see. The little surfing villiage is fun to spend an afternoon in. Can't remember the name of that either. I think it is more to the north side of the island. Big waves on the north for surfing. Wrong time of the year for whales, but that is fun too, if you go at the right time. HTH!

Thanks! I guess we will just keep slugging it out with CW. It is the program that she thought "spoke" to her. She likes the idea behind it.

I'll have a first and second grader next year, and in looking over these programs, I think they will enjoy them. I'm wondering what else I'll need to add for LA? Literature? Handwriting? Spelling? Not sure what is needed in addition to FLL and WWE. It would seem that all of the copywork would replace Handwriting, but I have already purchased Zaner-Bloser for them anyway. I think I may have them do ZB frequently, but not daily? We will be finishing up our phonics work over the summer and both are good readers...reading at 2nd and 1st grade levels currently. Thanks!