Thanks. I'll check these out. Has anyone used/read the Great Battles for Boys books?

For upcoming 5th grade, Oldest wants to learn more about wars and battles. Mostly about the strategies, weapons, tools, boats, submarines, planes, ect used. Is there a good curriculum out there for this? If this helps, we've already done world geography/cultures (Trailguide to World Geography) in 3rd and are in the middle of American history (Notgrass AtB 2011) for 4th. My plan is tentatively world history (Notgrass From Adam to Us) in 6th/7th and government/civics (Uncle Sam and You) in 8th.

R&S and CLE are both great companies. I guess I should've specified more than just nonresistance in my original post, because I look for more than just conscientious objection to war. I look specifically for Armenian doctrine because we interpret the scriptures differently in more than just that one area. Head coverings and jewelry are 2 other examples. Thankfully, none of these are salvation issues thus we use and enjoy many of their products. Nonresistance (not always specifically labeled but regularly alluded to) shows up mostly in History and Reading so I've found other curriculum to better fit our needs for these subjects. The no jewelry thing is actually in R&S grade 4 health. Nothing we've encountered has been offensive, but can be confusing for younger children so I research thoroughly. Older children are more capable of appreciating/understanding our doctrinal differences.

I detest the new age ball and stick letters in most handwriting curriculum. Oldest DS struggled so much with it that I printed a copy of the D'Nealian alphabet and cut/pasted the letters over the ball and stick letters in his CLE workbooks. I taught him how to use the directional arrows and then taped a copy of the alphabet (with arrows) on his desk as a reference. He thought it was so cool that the letters I taught had tails 😂

I agree about CLE not really giving enough practice or the why behind things. I haven't used Saxon because we switched to R&S which is mastery and works way better, IMO. There is a LOT more practice, plenty of review (in the TM) and you can pick and choose how many problems to have your child do in each section. DS10 could do CLE and pass all the tests but it took FOREVER and he lacked the confidence of knowing what he was doing.

@Slache I'm looking at this now and bumping your thread. Did you try it?

Still investigating.... I received a call back from CLE and was told that some (not a lot) of nonresistance is taught specifically beginning in 700. I may order the TMs to see just how much and if I can maybe edit the content ahead of time.

I spoke to a very helpful gentleman from R&S who, much to my surprise, literally pulled out the TMs for grades 5-8 and started going through them for me. Lol. He said if nonresistance is brought up it would be mostly in the TMs, not the student workbooks so it can be omitted easily enough. He cannot promise it won't show up briefly at some point, but IF it does it would most likely in grade 8 from what he could see. With this new info, I started checking the upper grade samples of CLE and found nonresistance brought up in grade 7. 😞

Thankyou. I think I'll buy the TMs and go through them since there are copies of the workbook pages inside, too. If I like it, I can purchase workbooks and tests later.

In a perfect scenario, I'd have one curriculum that covers Bible, history, and reading chronologically as one subject sort of killing 3 birds with 1 stone if that makes sense.

I looked at this before posting. We actually have an older edition of the Golden Children's Bible from when DH was younger. We used it to remediate and improve reading fluency for our adopted oldest when he was younger and in public school and continue to use it as bedtime reading for all our children when they are little. Unfortunately, DS10 would not likely handle MP's method of copywork and flashcards well at all. He hates flashcards with a passion. Also, he knows how to use his Bible and I want to improve upon that with added bits about the way life was during those times. He started CLE in the beginning and surprisingly retained a lot about things like wine making, dying yarn and weaving on a loom, the different tools used, types of clothing worn, ect in addition to the stories themselves. I would go back to CLE but cannot remember if they weave in the non-resistance. I seem to remember they do, just not often enough to recognize if you aren't looking for it.

I am looking at grades 5-8 R&S Bible for DS10. Does anyone know if nonresistance is weaved in or not? I know it's in their reading and history, but what about Bible? If the focus is on a chronological overview of the Bible through Bible stories, comprehension, vocabulary, customs, ect that would be exactly what I'm looking for.

I skipped ahead so haven't read all the replies and have no experience with dyslexia, ect but am using R&S spelling and have similar problems with DS10. I would be thrilled if mine wrote a paper even with a gazillion misspelled words because I don't stress spelling in writing assignments (only in spelling), but instead encourage getting his thoughts onto paper. We can go back and edit later. I do stress legible penmanship, though, because the whole purpose of communication is for another person to understand what you are communicating, kwim. I keep a page taped to his desk that lists the spelling rules for him and also a copy of phonetic spellings from the inside cover of his spelling book. He uses these as a reference to correct any misspelled words I underline with my red teacher's pen. If he attempts and still gets the word wrong, we go back through it together.

I look at common sense media when it's available but many titles aren't on there. I've become a fan of the guided reading level system more than the lexile because it takes reading level AND age appropriateness into account. If I remember correctly, the F&P column in the colorful chart above is the same thing.

Split reaction. Sentence 1: 🏆🏆🏆 Sentence 2: motivational pompoms because you can do it!

@Lovely Bookishness would probably have the info you're looking for. I know she uses MFW with her children.

We seem to have a lot in common. I don't care for their handwriting either. I taught Oldest D'Nealian and plan on doing the same for the youngers, too. This is the first year I've forgone a reading curriculum and just selected a bunch of books that line up with our history curriculum and it's been Oldest's favorite.

Thanks for the recipe, Slachie! You're very creative in the kitchen! Pre-allergies, we used to have a cat (gray tabby) until she passed of old age. Got her as a wild kitten. She was entertaining and a true blessing. She was the best pet ever for Oldest when he was a baby. We were concerned how she would react when we brought him home from the hospital, but she thought she was his mommy and became his best friend. We had a harness for her and used to walk her the same as others walk their dog. She had her routine and scratched specific trees on her rounds. She liked catching live critters and bringing them to us until I screamed my head off once and scared a couple lives out of her. In my defense, she brought me a live mouse (to my bedroom!) first thing in the morning before I was fully awake. She also LOVED watching the big kitties (tigers, lions, ect) on TV. She'd attack the TV like a real tough kitty. 🤣

Dishes done, laundry folded, floors swept, schoolwork half done so we're on a snack break playing tangrams while Newbie takes his late morning nap. Contemplating next year's curriculum since Oldest threw a monkey wrench in my plans and read ALL The. Books for reading and keeps jumping ahead and reading extra lessons in history. So much for it lasting 2 school years. 🙄

Oh yeah, Good Morning!

I have never heard of this.

Oldest wants one. Of the dog variety. I'm mean because I said no to both due to allergies. I compromised, though. We now have fish.

Thank you! I was hoping you'd see this thread and respond. I have 2nd grade English and spelling already and was really trying to figure out first grade stuff so I can start buying backwards in curriculum. I used CLE with my oldest and switched in third grade. I really liked CLE's learning to read program but not their language arts and there doesn't seem to be a good way to separate them. Wouldn't be a big deal if they used the same phonetic symbols as R&S, but of course they don't. May I ask what you use for reading beyond grade 1? I like the concept of the BNRS, but not their nonresistant stance which presents itself in both their reading and history programs.

Hmm... anyone?

What other curriculums use the same phonics symbols as R&S? I plan to use R&S english starting in 2nd grade, but not sure if I want to use the BNRS series for learning to read with my littles. Or does R&S phonics stand alone? I used CLE's learn to read with Oldest and liked it but their phonics symbols are different.