My oldest is currently using Uncle Sam and You in 7th. Civics/Government is the focus of the course. Geography/mapping were covered in America the Beautiful and From Adam to Us. We've done both and I still have the mapbooks that he completed. You could very easily add in Trailguide to US Geography, Great States (board game), or Draw the USA.

I think it really just boils down to preference in how topics are presented. Some find it dry, but we like it and it gets done. If you have specific units you'd like to see a lesson from before you make a purchase, pm me and I'll take some pictures for you. I have all the science texts from grade 2-9/10.

Yes, my oldest is currently in 7th grade working through the R&S grade 8 science course. We started using R&S science (grade 3 book) when he was in second grade and he's asked not to switch every year since. He likes that he's not confined to just one branch of science for an entire year. Each unit is different. He also prefers not having to use a curriculum that uses the discovery approach. R&S teaches the lesson and then most times will give activities you can choose to do (or not do) to illustrate concepts. We accidentally managed to bust a mason jar (in our kitchen sink, thankfully) when learning about the boiling point of water at higher elevations and my younger two boys thought it was fantastic to guess which color would spread fastest in cold/hot water, while Oldest told them why, in the energy unit. I recently looked into Berean Builders Earth Science for highschool and was surprised that the sample shows a lot of the same stuff Oldest just learned in the weather unit of the R&S grade 8 book.

It's snowing here. I'm relooking at IEW now. Oldest likes Notgrass, but I'm not entirely convinced if it means needing to add another writing program. The biggest draw for me was having both the history & English/lit credits covered, but now I'm reading that it might not be enough.

I've heard of IEW, but not the others. Guess I've got more to look into. I thought you were planning on Notgrass for highschool, too, which is why I asked you. 😂 ...and for a complete 180: Our R&S order with Middle's first grade stuff showed up today! Yay! We can start first grade on Monday, right? 🤣

EdPo: Slachie, since you love to plan forward and have a kiddo the same age/grade as Oldest, you may have the best handle on this but I'm open to advice from anyone who has experience here: For high school, I'm trying to figure out writing/English/lit. Oldest will complete R&S English 8 next year in 8th grade. Our plan is to use the full Notgrass textbook sequence throughout highschool. Is the writing/English/literature component in Notgrass enough on it's own or should I have Oldest do the 9/10 R&S books in 9th and 10th grades? I am considering skipping the 9/10 books and instead just have Oldest do the Notgrass writing/lit assignments with the R&S English handbook as reference and assigning at least 8 (instead of the recommended 6) writing projects.

We're supposed to get 3 minutes, 42 seconds of totality. I am praying for clear skies as the weather forecast is showing partially cloudy.

Which Notgrass course are you doing? We're in Uncle Sam and You, right now.

Thank you. I'll look into this. I already knew we'd have to decide between getting his highschool English credits through Notgrass or R&S. I certainly won't use both as that would be way too much. I plan to focus on writing in 8th so he isn't completely overwhelmed in 9th.

In high school? I'm debating on using Notgrass strictly for the history/Bible credits in highschool or find a way to get Oldest to the level he needs to be at in order to do the English/lit assignments in the Notgrass courses. I have all of 8th grade (next school year) to get him there.

I looked into IEW a couple years ago and I honestly don't know if I can handle that on top of first grade and Pre-K this fall. There won't be enough of me to go around! I really loathe trying to teach writing. I never know how much to critique vs let go and Oldest absolutely hates to write.

EdPo: I'm looking at writing programs for Oldest. I don't know if I should trust and continue through the two R&S 9/10 books or jump ship and get a straight up writing program like Writing Strands or Jensen Format Writing. I feel somewhat panicked after reading some of the highschool Notgrass book samples and seeing the level of writing required.

I tried. I've tried using Canva for several things over the last year. I'm not sure if there's just way too much to figure out or if the site itself is just less than user-friendly.

This was one of the driving factors for us to switch to R&S permanently, after trying/loving their math for a year when my oldest was struggling with math facts after completing CLE 3. With the exception of history/geography, I now own nearly every R&S text available.

I almost asked (but deleted it) whether the child was newly 5 or closer to 6 because those months in between age 5 and 6 make a big difference in when my boys are ready.

I've never used any of those programs just because the amount of color was way too distracting for my boys. Rod & Staff and Phonics Pathways are both great programs depending on your preference.

I'm gearing up for teaching first grade again. I don't know if I should make a felt board (easy enough) or just use our base ten set.

I had and gave these away because they were just too busy and full of color. Simple worked best for keeping Oldest focused on the task at hand. Not sure with the youngers yet, but I have a feeling they will be similar in this area.

What's your favorite size math facts flashcards? 3x5 or 4x6? I have both sizes in blank index cards.

I'm trying to do something soooo simple that I literally can't make or even beg my computer or phone to do it. It's just a simple worksheet with 4 flowers that need to be the same size. I could do this in a couple of minutes 20 years ago without a problem. Technology is now micromanaging every.single.feature?! On to plan B, I guess.

I'm not a big flashcards person, but for learning to read and math facts, they are great. I have index cards, but that's a LOT of cards to write.

I thought you were saying I didn't EdPo. I did. I understood the "haven't tried them" part. I found a short video on MP's YouTube that shows some of their flashcards. None were math, but the video showed the quality, which is what I was after. Wow, MP uses a TON of flashcards!

I DID EdPo. It's right at the top of the post. Says EdPo. I'll stop, though. Booyah.

EdPo: Have any of you used/seen/held Memoria Press flashcards for math? The dimensions look good (not as huge as R&S). I want to know if they are good quality, but cannot seem to find any reviews or pictures of these IRL anywhere. I want sturdy and non see-through. Otherwise, I'm hand writing a bazillion math flashcards over the summer along with vocabulary word and phrase cards.

Rod and Staff, hands down. We've used CLE's learn to read (along with every single other subject they offer) all the way through fourth grade before switching to R&S. I loved CLE learn to read, but did not like their language arts. In R&S English, the student has to write on notebook paper. This means the student has to really think about how to draw the correct skeleton for each diagram. CLE gives a blank skeleton and my oldest figured out how to just plug in words without understanding why they went where. To my surprise, I've learned that I actually like having Spelling separate from English. We've used R&S English and Spelling grades 3-7, Reading grades 5-7, and plan to use grade 8 in all three next year along with starting one of my youngers in R&S grade 1 reading/phonics and another in R&S ABC series.