I will be using the Chalkdust PreAlgebra program next year with my 7th grade ds. I was wondering if anyone had a plan to schedule it for the year that they would be willing to share? Thank you in advance! Kim :D

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Science has been the subject I wish would go away for years now but since I don't think that will be happening anytime soon :tongue_smilie: I would like to at least not repeat the same mistakes with my younger children. I would love to see what science scope and sequence you use from 1st through middle school. I would love to know what curriculum you used and what topic (ie. chemistry, botany, etc). I would also love some advice for going forward with my oldest. He will be a 6th grader next year and although we haven't been consistent with science he has been exposed here and there to many different science topics. What would you say would be the most important science topics (and what curriculum would you recommend) for the next 3 years of middle school to prepare him for High School science. Thank you so much for your time in responding and I hope the responses help other science phobic moms as well. :lol:

I am looking into your suggestions. I wish there was something like TOG but not as involved or as expensive. :)

bump :)

I am looking into revamping our history curriculum for next year and I would really love some thoughts on which programs to look into. I have a ds (6th grade), dd (4th grade), ds (2nd grade) and baby:). I would like to find a program that is Christian-based, combines history and geography and is meaty enough that I can challenge my 6th grader with questions based on the covered material. I have looked into TOG (and this might be my best bet) but I don't need it for writing and I was put off by the price and all the supplementary resources that add further to the price of the program. However, I did like the dialectic questions and discussions it would provide my 6th grader. The whole program just seems initmidating. I am also looking at Truthquest and it does say there are questions but I can't find samples and it doesn't appear to be for each section (users correct me if I am wrong). I would love to hear any suggestions or advice. Thank you in advance for your help. :001_smile:

After spending hours looking at the All About Spelling Program I decided it wasn't going to be a fit for us. My dd just needs to go back and review all the rules - these workbooks look like it will do the trick. I would recommend these as a cheaper alternative to AAS especially if you are not in need of the tactile approach that makes up much of the AAS program. HTH :001_smile:

Morning Bump :tongue_smilie:

Does anyone know if there was any changes made between the 2002 version and the current 2007 version? Thank you.

I really love to hear how this is working for others. I don't want to hijack this post but I have a question regards how we are using IEW - If I don't get any responses I will just post this as a separate post. This is our first year with IEW and I have had mixed feelings about it. It has definitely helped my ds9 with his writing which was abysmal at best before, however, he has a really hard time picking out words for the outline and then when he writes his paragraph, many times the sentences are stand alones and don't flow together. He seems to to better on stories where there is a more obvious sequence to the the sentences but even then the sentences don't always flow. The surprising thing to me is that this child reads at a high school level and reads every day of his own accord so I don't know why some of that wouldn't translate to his writing. I ask him does this sound like something you would read in one of your books and his answer is "no." Any thoughts, recommendations, etc would be greatly appreciated. :confused:

and they are great for travel. Much easier than taking flashcards and a little more fun.

go along with their phonics. I start them in manuscript and transition them to cursive by 2nd grade. My thought is that this is the crucial time that they are learning how to read and I wanted what they saw in their readers to match their writing. By the end of 1st grade my kiddos have had a good handle on their reading and then I transition them to cursive. Just my 2cents worth. :)

Thanks Stacia - I have never heard of this program - another one to look into! :)

Bump :tongue_smilie:

put them 2 at a time in page protectors and then in a 3 ring binder. Then I make copies at the beginning of each week. She lets you make copies within a family. :)

I prefer to buy the latest editions because I will be using the materials through 4 kids so thank you everyone for your help! :lol:

For a couple years I intended to do narrations and copy work with my oldest more consistently and it just seemed to get pushed aside when we would get busy. I used the workbook 2 this year with my ds2nd grade (the oldest always winds up being the guinea pig and the others benefit:tongue_smilie:) and we consistently use it each week, it doesn't take much time, and I love that the prep has already been done. I plan on continuing her on to wkbk3 and I just purchased wkbk1 for my ds 1st grader. You don't need the book if you use the workbook and I have found the best price at Amazon. I hope that helps. :)

I may use the SOTW Activity guide next year and I saw that the Ancient World has been revised but I can't find any info on Vol 3. Also, would like to know how useful the maps and activities were inside. Anysight would help. Thank you for your time in responding.:)

Thank you for the suggestion - I have never heard of this program. I will look through it this weekend. Have you used this and if so, what did you like/dislike about it? Thanks!!

Michelle - this looks really interesting. I haven't had time to go through it but just clicking on the tabs makes me want to spend some time this weekend looking this over. Have you used this? If so, what did you think? Thanks!!!

You have given me some things to think about and look into. My purpose in catergorizing the choices was two-fold - I wanted to see what curriculums are out there that I am not aware of and secondly, to research into the different curriculums to see what would be the best fit for our family. We used the Christine Miller Middle Ages and Renaissance books this year as a spine and used a ton of supplemental books when we wanted to park it on a person or topic - and for activities I used a combination of the Hands and Hearts History kits and maps and activities from the Story of the World Activity guides. It was just a lot of work putting all of this together and we will have a new baby to add to the mix. I guess for next year, I would ideally love to find a program that gives a spine so we have something to follow especially for those times when you only want to briefly cover a topic and gives you activities and book recommendation without being overwhelming. I would also love to use something that has a Biblical basis or foundation. My kids like activities such as simple map work or a simple craft that makes things fun but aren't too overwhelming (and I won't have a lot of time to prep). Hopefully, this makes some sense and I appreciate any suggestions or things to think about. I am a research junkie so if you can just get me on a couple paths I am more than willing to do the work to see what would be best for my family. Thank you again! :lol:

Hello - I am trying to decide what to use for history next year (and in future years) and the more I research the more programs I realize are out there. The way I see it so far is: Category 1 - guides with additional reading suggestions Biblioplan Truthquest Beautiful Feet Veritas Press History cards Category 2 - Spines with summaries and additional reading suggestions Story of the World Myster of History Christine Miller: Guerber Series Category 3 - Programs that intertwine history with other subjects Winter's Promise Tapestry of Grace Sonlight My Father's World Heart of Dakota Ambleside Online So here are my specific questions: 1) Did I categorize these correctly? And what programs did I miss? 2) Recommendations on programs based on a ds5th, dd3rd, ds1st (We would be studying Explorers through American 1800's next year in the 4 year cycle but I am also looking for something long term) Thank you in advance for your help!!!:001_smile: Edit: Please see my post on the second page as to what we did this year and what I am hoping to find for next.

Here's ours: Math: Abeka Arithmetic 3 Grammar: R&S English 3 Spelling; Abeka Spelling 3 Writing: Combo of WWE3 and Writing Tales 1 Reading: Combo of books from History list and other book lists Latin: Latina Christiana I History: Using Christine Miller books as spine plus a load of additional reading and activities Science: Christian Kids Explore Chemistry Bible: Continue Proverbs study Piano: Continue lessons It's great seeing what everyone else is using as well. :lol:

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