My older daughter is using SM5a and I'm also wondering what we'll do next year. SM6a/b? DM1? AOPS PA? Jacobs? Something completely different? I used Dolciani in 7th grade. Honestly, it might be a great book, but even the cover makes me shiver with dread. I couldn't use it. I'm also wondering if I should perhaps slow her down since she will very likely be going to the local high school. There's really no need for her to do Algebra 1 before 8th grade. Although she's quite good at math and generally does it without complaining, she doesn't actually like it particularly. (Except she loves Fred and Murderous Maths) I'm hoping that moving from arithmetic towards algebra might help her to enjoy it more? I don't know... Anyway, while I do read these threads thoughtfully, I refuse to buy anything until she's well into SM5b.

I haven't seen the story grammar books, but we used Sentence Composing for Elementary School and I'd definitely recommend it -- particularly for upper elementary/middle school.

Also, I did a lot of practice with a pad of graph paper -- useful to work on angling your writing.

I haven't read all the posts, but I just wanted to encourage you to try it! My handwriting is a billion times better. I'm still in the fifth book of the Spencerian series, but I'm really happy with my progress. Also - I don't find it matters much about the pen when it comes to practicing. I sometimes use a fountain pen, sometimes a ball point, sometimes a pencil. If you want to write really nicely, I find a fine point fountain pen works well for every day use (and a medium for fancier writing -- addressing labels and such...). If you do go with a fountain pen that uses cartridges, keep in mind that you'll need to constantly be refilling the cartridge. My Pelikano pen is sitting around out of ink for this reason, but my Schaeffer pens are more used because I can pick up the refills easily here in town.

I haven't seen the elementary books, but LOF fractions sounds perfect for her!

My almost-10 yr old was reading a picture book version of the Odyssey to her sister and asked me if she could read the original. I could check it out from the library or look it up online and let her give it a try... but I read it in college and honestly I'm thinking the original may bore her. She's read the Mary Pope Osborne series a couple years ago and wants something more than that. What's a good intermediate version of Homer? I'm thinking aimed at middle school or young high school students... Maybe a condensed or abridged translation that leaves out the less exciting bits? On Amazon I see versions by Picard, Sutcliff, and McCaughrean that look promising... suggestions?

We love these games! http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids/

It depends on your purpose for supplementing: If it's to review and make sure that there aren't any gaps -- use light blue If it's to remediate or enrich a specific area of math -- use blue

I'd go with Minimus. I don't think at 7 or 8, you'll get much retention with any program. The goal at early elementary is introducing Latin, not mastering it.

You could add in a few schoolhouse rock videos for fun! Look for you tube videos for "I'm just a bill", "Barter", "Three-ring circus", "Tyrannosaurus debt"... among others...

My older daughter and I love Story of Science, but I would probably wait on it. Aside from middle school level math topics, it also gets into some ideas that might be better appreciated at logic stage (like... the relationship between science and religion). Also, the quest guides are kind of awesome, but kind of too much for our family. A bit classroomy... We started off using them but gave up.

I'd just use the US edition this year because you have it already. I'd switch to standards after 4b.

Math -- 1 hr/5x week Science -- 1 hr / 3x week History -- 1 hr / 4 x week Grammar -- 1 hr / 1x week (more linguistics than grammar) Spelling -- none Reading -- none Writing -- 1 hr / 2x week Religion -- At Sunday School (1 hr / 1x week) Art -- Painting 1.5hr/week, drawing 1 hr/week at alternative PS Music -- 30 minutes / 3 x week Latin -- 1 hr / 2x week

We just use the reviews as "tests".

Try Galore Park Jr. History 1-3. You can see a sample at: http://www.galorepark.co.uk/product/parents/125/junior-history-book-1.html My history-loving daughter enjoyed them a lot at 7. You might do a search for it on this forum, I think I once wrote a review.

Not really... I do respect their opinions and experiences, but I have other materials that I like better.

Definitely a good option. I'd think about whether you want instruction on the page or not (MM has great instructions). Also consider whether you want a variety of different kinds of problems in a single lesson (Saxon/ Daily Math workbook) or whether it would be better to have a review of only a single topic at a time (MM, Russian Math, Singapore, most other suggestions).

My kids were at a Montessori school too and so we do "work" here too.

It looks like you're over-extended. It's really all about priorities... If education is a priority, then think about how much time you need to educate your children and figure out when it's going to happen. You might need to reduce some of the activities in order to do it. I'd start by ordering priorities: math? history? LA? Science at PS? Show choir? Foreign Language? Softball? Band? Can you eliminate anything? Can your 11 yr old stay home while you're picking up other kids? If so, she should be able to get some independent work done then. Are you willing to do schoolwork on Saturdays? Do you school year round? Could you work on language arts and math during the school year, but focus heavily on history and other subjects in the summer? Keep in mind she's also doing science, music and PE. The only things you're missing is history... and a foreign language.

Errr... yeah! What ErinE said... :001_smile: (I wasn't paying attention to the actual numbers...)

We've used this: http://www.amazon.com/World-History-Sticker-Stickers-Atlases/dp/0794512445/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327382456&sr=8-1 It gives some information about each event too.... we've done it as a dictation. Usborne also makes another one that isn't history related http://www.amazon.com/Usborne-Sticker-Atlas-World-Atlases/dp/0746062699/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327382516&sr=8-2

If she doesn't need actual instruction, but just some problems to work out to keep her skills fresh, I'd pick up a workbook from the bookstore (like Evan Moor's Daily Math Practice or Creative Teaching Press Daily Math Minutes).

You might want to re-word it to be "how many 0.4s are in 1?"

The good thing is that you have enough structure to get in the math and language arts, the problem is that it sounds like everything else is pretty random. Some people like random. If you think it's working for you, just stick with it and perhaps look into the idea of 'unschooling'. If you feel you're missing something, consider doing something like this: I would open a word document and make a table of 5 columns. Label the columns Monday to Friday. In each of the columns, put Logic (for now, that's your 'brain teaser', but later you might want to add something more formal), Math and Language Arts. (CLE LA is all-inclusive, right? If not, add in a writing program and spelling/handwriting, but only if needed.) Add science, choir and band on the appropriate days (or every day - if it is). I'd add in History 3 days/week and Latin (or another foreign language) on the other two days. This is a great forum to ask about what kind of materials to use if you don't have something that's working for you. If you want, make your chart pretty or colorful or add a few bits of clip art, print and laminate it (at a copy store if you don't have your own). Post it on the wall where you do your work and make sure that every day you are getting in the subjects that are for that day. It might be that History ends up being read in bed before going to sleep or Latin is only 20 minutes, but make certain that each of the subjects for the day is getting done consistently. You can always build up to more structure or more subjects or more length, but make your chart doable and then do it.

We had a rough patch (using MM) and tried TT for a year. It actually worked out well to take me out of the equation (groan - bad pun) and got my daughter to a place where math wasn't causing tears. That said, her problems were not really math problems though. We've since settled with SM, rarely have trouble, and will not be changing until Pre algebra.