You just open and go. It's so simple that it doesn't need lesson plans. The simple directions are on the page. Phonics are mostly in KII. They build up to readng a simple CVC sentence. It's...phonics :). Great prep for a more involved phonics for first (we've used so many, but now use CLE's LTR.)

We have a set. My history loving DD uses them as 'for fun' research projects. They aren't easily divisible into daily assignments for me, so I'm not sure I'd use them for more than that.

Oh, definitely CLE!!! So affordable, simple and EASY! 30 minutes daily, tops. Just add read alouds. About Three and Abour Four series for the four year old, Rod and Staff A-F and CLE KII for the five year old :). After being eclectic for a long time, we now love CLE for skill subjects, even for my older kids (similar ages to yours.)

The ones called Geography Songs :). CBD sells the CD and a book of the lyrics and reproducible maps. The Troxel family (Audio Memory) produces them. They are sort of an oldie but a goodie :).

I have the dictionary! LOL! I felt *so* righteous buying it. Doesn't get used much ;).

Oops, double post.

We start in 4th. Our LA covers spelling just fine until then :). It's pretty good, gets done, doesn't take forever, mostly independent. Covers foreign language root words in 7th and 8th!

Geography Songs and maps. A few minutes daily.

I don't recommend MUS if you need a spiral. It had almost zero retention for is over several years due to lack of enough cumulative review. We eventually found our math home with CLE :).

My first though was scoliosis just from the topic title. I passed all childhood screenings but my chiro found it as an adult. Mine's mild and I don't do anything about it. Maybe I should? It's not painful, one shoulder is lower than the other and one arm doesn't have as side a range of motion as the other.

I really like Managers of Their Schools (even if it is very practical). I plan to buy Teaching from Rest when the second edition comes out. Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe is excellent, and I reread every few years. Homeschooling For the Rest of Us is also quite good.

I don't think you'd need any of AAS, WWE, or FLL for the 200s. CLE LA does include copywork for the lower grades. Narration can be done during read aloud time.

I'm most excited about our beefed up morning time. It should be awesome. The Fallacy Detective with my oldest should be fun as well.

I'm going to say, yes. The grammar is quite rigorous. As the program stands now, spelling is topical lists in 4th and up (we substitute Rod and Staff for these grades). The writing doesn't include a lot of practice as others have noted, but we find it sufficient. If you want to cover poetry, lit terms etc. you would also want to add their Reading course, which is the other part of their LA program.

I love this topic title! Less C than ACE, more C than Hake. I don't find it overbearing and it doesn't evangelize (like ACE does). Mennonites don't believe in evangelizing to children. As a result the Christian content is more worldview related - sentences to diagram may include pastors or churches etc.

We have been consuming them. We did a bit of the report cover/dry erase thing in two subjects for littles. In those subjects I made the olders use separate notebooks for a couple of years. Most books were consumed. Now that we've been using the same programs for three years, going on four this fall, we are trying something different. Since we now have seven children (at least), we're investing in lamination and coil binding. We are doing it ourselves, it's a bit of an investment up front, but we should save a bundle in the long run.

We use CLE for a formal program and our shelves are loaded with good books. They all read voraciously :), CLE is more for lit terms etc.

15-20 minutes chapter book reading as a family. Around the same for picture book reading to little ones. Audiobooks at bedtime often.

Well...Hebrew is on hold. Still trying to figure out grammar. Working on memorizing James 1. I should have Xtramath conquered shortly. Maybe some fractions work next :).

The site doesn't work on the iPad for us? So I use the app :).

You do need WiFi though. HTH.

We use it all the time. It's awesome. I have three children and my husband and I on there. Definitely good for multiple users. Much handier than the PC for us, I just pass the iPad to a child.

A LOT of families do devotions daily, that's what our discussion time is in part. We also do another time of singing and memory work together. You could call BSGFAA that if it works for you. Then it might not seem like too much. I would try to keep it more oral though, more devotional, and less or to paper - the CLE will cover that.

Two official curriculums may be too much :). We do Bible together at the breakfast table. One chapter aloud daily, rotating between OT and NT, followed by discussion over the meal time. Then our family prayer time to close. For formal Bible studies chronologically and independently, we do use CLE. The chronological sequences start in 2nd-4th (plus elective) and 5th-8th (includes mapping, concordance, atlas work in those levels as be years to on). We are very happy with them. I've never used Rod and Staff, so I can't speak to that :).

I don't know how hidden it is, but I've never seen it on the big lists. Owls in the Family is hilarious.