Sonlight is fantastic, IMO. We don’t follow the instructor guide, because I can’t stick to it with four kids at all ages. But we have done the cores from preschool through now Core D, and will do Core E next year. We just read through the books at our own pace. But the books are rich, and we really enjoy both the readalouds and the independent readers. My kids do separate math and language arts. If I had just one kid, I would probably follow it more closely. I have a friend with an only child and they have done it for years, and love it. I feel like it’s definitely a full education. It’s honestly pretty rigorous, considering how many books they read (and great books, too). And then of course you can go as advanced as you want with math and science. It’s solid. But also…don’t get married to the idea of sticking with one curriculum no matter what. Kids change, circumstances change. I love that we can make the curriculum work for us…homeschooling is wonderful, because you CAN make things flex and adapt to fit your family.

This is great advice. Follow this!

I think you’re probably right! Thank you. 🙂

I don’t get this criticism. I don’t know why it would be considered weak (although I have heard that on this board many times). I’m looking at pre-algebra programs for my son who has used TGTB the last three years, and he has already covered basically everything I’m seeing in several pre-algebra programs. I’ve looked at sample chapters of other programs and what he is doing seems above and beyond. I am confident he will be ready for whatever I end up choosing for him (probably either Derek Owens or Saxon). My friend, who recommended it to me initially, had her husband review it before they selected it, and it got his stamp of approval.He was a math major in college and works in a related field now. My husband is very mathy and aced all the most advanced honors classes for math in high school and college, and he said he feels like the stuff our sixth grader is doing is what he remembers from pre-algebra and that he seems on track with everything. Granted, our memories of what we were doing in math in 6th grade is probably a little foggy at best, but still—I don’t have any reservations. (Whereas I had major reservations when we tried out Math Lessons for a Living Education…I was like, yeah, no, this is way too weak. Before we landed on TGTB, we had tried Singapore, Beast Academy, and MLFLE.) No, it’s not on the same level as beast academy, or some of the very advanced curriculums, but I feel like it’s at least on level if not above level. And some kids may need more review and practice, but I think like it’s actually been great for my mathy kid, because he doesn’t need a lot of practice problems. I feel like if there are five problems and he misses three or four, well, obviously we need to look at that concept again. But if he gets all five right, why does he need to do fifteen? He seems to understand and grasp everything from the video lessons, and overall I’ve just been extremely pleased. But maybe I’m missing something here. I guess we will see when he moves on next year! If your son only tested in the 4th grade level for TGTB, but he will be in sixth grade next year, I would probably want to look at getting something very foundational and ensuring that he has a strong base to move on from. It sounds like there are gaps, and switching curriculums each year isn’t going to help that! That would be three years in a row of doing a 4th grade curriculum, and so obviously things aren’t clicking for some reason. If it were ME, I would probably choose something mastery based, since it sounds like he’s not really getting things down pat before moving on, and then doesn’t retain what he’s learned in the past. I think I would go back to Rod and Staff, because that’s a pretty solid, tried and true, mastery based program. OR, if you really don’t want to do rod and staff, maybe Right Start. Is he your only kid? Right Start is more teacher intensive, so sometimes people with a number of kids have trouble using it, but it is more visual/kinesthetic AND more fun/engaging. Fewer worksheets, more games and manipulative. My friends who use it really sing its praises for giving a solid foundation. Overall, the best math curriculum is the one you will stick with. So…I‘d really try to identify what you will enjoy using, what will work best for him, and then try to stick with it. If he needs extra practice, there are supplemental workbooks or games you could use on the side. Life of Fred is a very silly and fun program that we have used as a supplement, as well as stuff like Multiplication Facts that Stick (hands on workbook). Good luck!!

Beast Academy is a tough curriculum. My mathy kid struggled with it, because it’s presented in a conceptual way that really uses problem solving and critical thinking, and my kid does better just doing more procedural math. My son is good at math, but he just wants to get it done…he doesn’t play around with it for fun. I thought he would love the graphicsand comic book style writing, but it didn’t work. 😉 Are you looking for something more fun and engaging, then? It sounds like he has some trouble retaining his knowledge? Do you think a spiral method (continually revisiting concepts) or a mastery method (mastering one concept at a time) would work better for him? I’m not sure what math mammoth and rod and staff use, since we haven’t tried those. But if you think continually revisiting previous concepts would work better for him, maybe look at either The good and the beautiful (fun! Pretty!) or Saxon (tried and true, and you could use video lessons if you think that would help. Nicole the Math Lady seems good, but there are others.). if you think he needs more or a mastery approach, maybe Math-U-See?

Thanks! I appreciate the help. Lots of good options out there, at least! 😉

Interesting!! I had pretty much ruled out spelling you see due to thinking it would need heavy involvement from me. I do wonder if that’s what he has going on, I don’t know. A good example would be spelling “much” “mcuh”. Like the right letters but the wrong order. Although he can make all kinds of slip-ups…mixing up “off” and “of”, or spelling “any” with an i or e instead of an a. And then sometimes he correctly spells harder words that really surprise me. So I have no idea. I’ll give it another look! Thank you!

I just looked at this and it looks pretty perfect for my older son—but level one is for 4th-5th grade, so I think it will be too hard for my second son. I appreciate the suggestion!! I am going to order it for ODS.

Thanks! I don’t suspect dyslexia, but I do think there is *something*. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m wondering! I do think all about spelling is very good. Maybe I should just stick with it.

That is great to hear about sequential spelling! Thank you!

Ooh that sounds good! Thank you! Looking into it!

Thank you! TGATB uses dictation, which they hate, but I can see how much that has helped. That sounds interesting!

My two oldest boys are very poor spellers. My oldest (6th grade) is kind of a “typical” bad speller (reminds me a lot of my dad and brother, who are both strong math people (engineers), and atrocious spellers—but you can always figure out what they’re *trying* to spell.). My third-grader is a real mystery to me. He is a very strong reader, a great writer….and cannot spell to save his life. He has to spell out everything, and tries really hard…and half the time I’m thinking, “why in the world would he think it’s that letter?” He told me he cannot visualize the words in his head. I feel bad for him, because he LOVES writing stories, but it’s so tedious…he has to ask me how to spell every other word. We walk through it phonetically, and he often makes mistakes even then. My kindergartner appears that he is going to be a pretty good speller…and he is starting to correct his older brother’s spelling. Gah. However—I can tell he IS making progress. We’ve been using The Good and the Beautiful, and he does pretty well with it. Spelling things out with the letter tiles app seems to work for him. And having the repetition is also helpful. I also have him doing Explode the Code books, which is good for him, and then I’m doing All About Spelling for all three boys—the same level, level 1, just to work on super basic foundational stuff. It’s obviously geared towards my kindergartner, but I figured they could all benefit. Ha. However, I’m looking for something a little different next year. I’m going to stick with TGATB and Explode the Code, but I just want something supplemental for a little extra practice for my older boys. Any recommendations for independent supplemental workbooks? I’ve used Spelling Workout in the past, which is just okay IMO. I’ve also used cheap workbooks, like DK. I’m thinking maybe Spelling You See (although I started with that with my oldest when he was in K, and I think I remember that needing parent involvement? Also he hated it.), or Sequential Spelling, but I’m very interested in other ideas!! Thanks so much!

This has been a really great fit for all three of my boys so far. I’m impressed with it.

Thanks!!