I'm considering buying Analytical Grammar, myself. My DD is in CLE 6 and I'm LOST as to how to help her with it when she makes mistakes. Let me know how it goes?

Does it include an answer key to the workbook?

CLE LA 6 is killing me! I don't know enough grammar MYSELF to help DD with it. She did great for 4 and 5 though.

My 6th grade DD did very well in CLE LA 4 and 5, however the 600s are too difficult for ME to help her with due to my own lack of formal grammar training. I'm considering two courses of action: taking Analytical Grammar myself so I can help her with CLE, or moving to Essentials in Writing since it has a DVD teacher. If we move to EIW would she be preparded to come back to CLE English for high school? I'm leaning towards their diploma program for those years.

Well, this is perhaps a little off-topic, but I am a bit envious of the biblical geography my 5th grader is learning in her CLE Bible course! As a child I always wanted to figure out where the place names mentioned in the Bible were located so I could actually understand the journeying narratives. Maps at the back of Bibles were never enough. So...without just working my way through her course myself, is there a good way you can recommend for adults to learn Bible geography? Alongside the biblical narrative preferably?

We switched mostly to worktexts in late fall of 2012. We've never done more school than we have the past year! We use mostly R&S, CLE, and ACE - my details are in my signature link :).

Hmmm, we use CLE but it isn't funner ;). My girls do get to write in the books though if that counts, LOL!

We didn't get much science done in the early grades, just the basics really. Science is happening here now, but ONLY because I got my readers something they can do on their own. Is it rigorous, perfect, and ideal? Nope. But it isn't mom intensive, it is getting done, and at least they are getting some science exposure instead of almost nothing while waiting for me to give it to them. At least they are familiar with the most common science concepts and ideas about how the world works, and really, that's okay.

Sonlight has great books :). At 3 and 5 I'd only buy the younger core and read through it together - even my big girls still enjoy those picture books. Get something for printing/numbers/letter sounds (we like CLE's K workbooks) and you are done!

You need a rules based spelling program. If she reads well, reteaching phonics won't necessarily result in better spelling. Decoding - reading - is a different thought process than encoding - spelling. Rod and Staff spelling is affordable, teaches phonetic based rules and is very self contained.

SL books are awesome. We own a few cores, but have never made it more than a few weeks in. We only like one read aloud at a time, really :). Just buy some of the books and have fun!

We downsized from 80 acres to 3 - our neighbours are definitely closer - we can see them, gasp! But they are nice! We found a place with a longer driveway - a sanity saver for us :). It is a big change, DH grew up with 320 acres, but he's holding it together :).

We're doing CLE KII this year. It IS gentle and easy to get done. Another valid option? Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD! Classic, kids want to do it, very memorable too. Follow with Bob Books or other CVC readers once blending kicks in (which may not happen in K - not for any of mine anyway!)

Oooooh, yep. Happened to me. Planned to homeschool since before I got married. TOO much research (still, a bit addicted). Too many fancy, teacher intensive programs combined with new babies and PPD. Last year I decided, we're just getting it done. It's not fancy, but it's getting done for the 2nd year running. I'm a bit dense, it took me 3 years to simplify and think realistically.

We always do GFA, BUT have you seen the cleft palate repair project at Samaritan's Purse? Tugging at us this year!

Xboom? Easy to plug in, affordable, cross compatible I'm pretty sure. Link several for more oomph. Pretty durable so far. Comes in colours!

I have 5, four of them are very close to yours. We use mostly CLE and ACE together with some together time when we do scripture memory, poems, common knowledge stuff, or a history read aloud etc. We read aloud at bedtime too. Keep K VERY simple. My children do chores. My husband helps cook if he wants something beyond throw in the oven food. My house is liveable, never super clean. Started moving my oldest to independence last year and it has been wonderful - helped me get time to do K and to teach my 2nd to read. You can find details in my signature :).

My hobbies are on hold (knitting, crocheting). What do I do? A tiny bit of reading. Memorizing scripture. Kids. :)

Postal Bible Studies - free, comes monthly, only 1 lesson per week (we do them all in a row for 1 week when they come), includes short story and colouring. Story Bibles the rest of the time.

We just started, kids LOVE it. Omega Swirl, 1 tsp daily = 180 mg

Thanks for checking, that isn't too bad at all!

I wonder if shipping to Canada would be prohibitively expensive?

We are all about those 3 things at my house :). I hear you on planning ahead, I switched my now 2nd grader over into the curriculum streams we are now using at the end of first so we could just keep going with those programs as much as possible from start to finish. LA/Writing: CLE LA (also includes copywork and spelling in 1st and 2nd). we also do CW see below Spelling: for 3rd and up: Rod and Staff Science: ACE (this is our second year and my oldest really enjoys her paces and tells me what she's learning all the time) Reading: CLE for 1st and 2nd, then ACE CW/Lit (uses real books, incudes writing and thinking exercises) for 3rd-6th then back to CLE (at least that's the plan, we're in 5th) Social Studies: ACE again here, we're Canadians and they have Canadian content PACES for parts of years (even a couple of full years, we're in one now). I really appreciate that. If in the US, their standard books are US focused. Math: CLE!!!! Oh, how I wish this was our first math program, it would have saved me much time re teaching concepts (and saved my girls frustration too)!

I'm hearing that you need something independent with ongoing review that you don't have to pull together. I have 5 myself and lots of littles, CLE was our answer. Independent for the most part, lots of review, it has worked incredibly well for us. I've stopped looking. My children are confident and content. Around $40/grade the first time through, $33 after that. Do get the flash cards for 1st and 2nd. Counting chart. The multiplication flash cards are skip worthy though, any deck will do.

I think you can just jump in. We took the placement test, ignored the phonetic markings and my oldest was able to jump into 4th. It is rigorous so we had to figure a few things out together (diagramming), but she did well and we're in 5th now.