:iagree: It's so interesting to read the different advice you've been given, while looking at the ages of the children that the people giving advice actually have! Most of the people telling you that it's a character issue, and you must find a way to make the child respect you and do as you say, have younger children. I love the advice that I quoted above. It's natural development for a child to start questioning mom's authority/teaching ability/intelligence! as they hit the preteen years, and everything goes so much more smoothly if you become guidance counselor/advisor, and not all knowing teacher. Kids are supposed to question their parents, or authority in general, as they hit those middle school years. It's part of becoming independent thinkers (that's how you know they're ready for logic stage work :D). Becoming their partner in their education gives the child ownership of their work.

It looks great to me! Very similar to what we'll be using next year for 6th as well. We'll use Writing Strands for Writing & Famous Men of Greece for History, but it sure looks like you've got everything covered well.

So, I have this fabulous part-time job at our local library, and so I feel entirely qualified to give you advice. Ask for help! :D People ask me where to find things at least once an hour. You are not expected to figure it out on your own, and think how boring my day would be if I just had to sit behind the desk checking things in and out. Also, our collection is constantly changing. New books come in and cause a shift in where something might be kept, so even patrons that come in regularly sometimes ask for help because we've moved things. The librarian will not be annoyed, or exasperated, I promise!

Over the years I've noticed complaining if the material isn't appropriate for the current developmental needs of my kids(too hard, too easy, too repetitive, too cluttered, too important to mom and not important to kid, too workbooky, too hands on, too artsy, too auditory......:D) This was apparent when they attended school, as well as during the past 3 years of homeschooling. I think the initial excitement for little kids is that they are interested in learning about school. Once they've been doing it for awhile, then they've satisfied their curiosity about what school is, and need to have some kind of interest or motivation in what they are learning for them to be engaged/excited/non complaining. We do a great deal of interest led learning here, as I've learned that if they aren't interested, it's a complete waste of time because it doesn't stick anyway. We've also done quite a bit of curriculum hopping to find programs that have approaches that work for my kiddos. When we try a new curriculum, the complaining starts quickly if it's a bad fit, or an inappropriate placement/level, or sometimes if it just isn't something that they are interested in. When that happens, we adjust or modify or throw it all out the window and start over. And for the most part, this seems to work for us. We do end up with some unusual projects and rabbit trails, but for the most part the kids are doing it happily! :D

Based on this, it sounds like he is a better fit in the lower grade. You're going to hear lots of opinions that go either way, but you need to make a decision based on your child, not on what other people think. For what it's worth, I was in your position this time last year. DD9, will be 10 on June 23, and is very young for her age. We did decide to keep her in the younger grade, so she'll be 4th grade next fall. Based on what I've seen this year, it was the perfect decision for her.

While it is certainly strange that she has a video camera pointed at your house, I just wanted to point out that from her point of view, it might be just as strange that you've taken a photo of her house and posted it on a message board.

Mine got to choose this year. I took Spanish in high school so I've always tried to teach them some of that through daily life anyway, and last year our local library offered free Spanish classes from a lady who had moved here from Mexico. This year, DD9 wanted to continue Spanish, but DS11 requested German. I have no idea why. We humored him and got him a German course, and he's done amazing, and is motivated to do it. It's making me rethink all our curriculum! If he's so motivated to do something he picked, I just may let him choose more things. One downside is that I don't speak much German, so have to pawn him off onto other accommodating adults to practice.

We use and love LLATL. DS11 has used yellow, orange, and is now finishing up purple. DD9 is in yellow. We like the gentle approach, and find that it sticks. I know lots of people find LLATL to be lacking, or not rigorous enough, but we haven't had this problem. We prefer a gentle approach that leaves time for other things, and have no desire to be using multiple LA programs that take hours to cover every day. LLATL teaches what they need to know, at a developmentally appropriate time. You won't find diagramming until the green book (7th grade), and grammar is gentle and introduced through usage. I've watched my kids pick it up gradually, but they are retaining it and it sticks, without beating them over the head with a grammar book every day. Both kids are voracious readers, and read for pleasure several hours a day, so I don't know if that has something to do with how well they do with language arts. Also, I do use another spelling program for both of them, because they stink at spelling and need something more intense for that.

For DS11, using Year 5, it takes from 10-20 minutes to work through the lesson plans. Some days there just seems to be more in the lesson plans, and some days it is less, or it is something he really knows so then it goes quickly. During that time we also go over the worksheet and do some parts of it together, but he usually does the majority of the worksheet later in the day or as "homework" in the evening. That usually takes him another 10-20 minutes. for DD9, using Year 2, it takes FOREVER. However, she's like that with everything, and has a number of learning challenges and other issues. When DS was her age, Year 2 probably took maybe 20 minutes total. Hope that helps!

When mine were younger we didn't do many outside activities. They've always played well together and I just let them have lots of free, unstructured time. They did well with that, but now that they are 9 & 11 they seem to need some social time, time with activities away from each other, and time away from me. Soooo.....brace yourself for our list of extracurricular activities: both kids: 1x per week - AWANA, art class 1x per month - homeschool group fun activity (park, bowling, etc), homeschool group field trip, Modern Woodmen of America Youth Group, Library Skills class DS11 - Lego club, trumpet lessons & band at local middle school, soccer(fall), ski club(winter) DD9 - flute lessons, Girl Scouts, homeschool co-op once a month, pony, cheering I know this looks like a lot, but only a few things are every week. This schedule works for us because the kids have picked activities that they enjoy & look forward to. They like having something to do besides just school.

We love LLATL here. It's not a program that is ever going to have the student find and circle the noun in 30 different sentences. You can take that as a pro or a con, depending on how you approach LA. We have used yellow, orange, & purple, and plan to continue with it because it works well with both my kids, and I see how well they are retaining. The little bits of new information, short lessons, and extras that aren't in other programs (poetry, using a phone book, etc) are all pros for us. We do supplement with other spelling programs because my kids stink at spelling, and they also read constantly, so they are reading much more than the books included in the program. If you have a child who doesn't read for pleasure, or you aren't reading other selections for history or other subjects, than I would say LLATL could be too light on literature.

My kids love the story starter on Scholastic's website. It is a never ending assortment of ridiculous writing prompts and different formats. http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/storystarters/storystarter1.htm

:iagree: Catchy phrases don't teach math, and only work for arriving at a correct answer as long as the phrase itself isn't forgotten. If you can find a way to get across to her what is actually happening, she won't need to remember the steps because she'll just know what to do. Maybe try the MM topical book?

MEP requires thinking, and that's not really how math is traditionally presented. Most American programs present an algorithm, then give lots of practice with applying the algorithm. For example, in many math programs, the teacher tells the students that the formula for finding the volume of a cube is V=lwh Then students practice on finding the volume of lots of cubes where they're given the length, width, & height. So they're essentially just practicing multiplying. In MEP, a discussion of volume happens, & the teacher guides the student in figuring out how to find volume before providing the algorithm. The practice problems that follow require thought, sometimes lots of it. The student might be given the volume, & has to come up with as many different values for l, w, & h as possible that would give that volume. Totally different thought process going on! I'm just giving volume examples because that's what DS11 is currently working on in Year 5. You're right that it's hard, but it teaches how to think, so we love it! Just take it slowly, or back up a little, and give yourself time to get used to it.

I think you'd be fine (for college transcripts AND for transferring into ps high school) to call it integrated math I,II, III, etc. I'm basing this on the new common core standards that many of the states are adopting. The math standards list two approved paths. The traditional path is alg. I, geometry, etc. the alternative path is an integrated program and is listed as Math I, Math II, etc. So I think you would be fine either way. Of course, that's just my opinion, and I haven't run that by a single high school or college official, so my reasoning could be a little off! :tongue_smilie:

It starts at the very beginning, and assumes no knowledge of letter sounds from the student, but it isn't actually intended for beginning students. It's a program for dyslexic students who are older. The quantity of writing required wouldn't be suitable for a young learner. The intent of the program is to do a full level each day. That's 4 pages, with a lot of writing, and requiring a fairly long attention span. From the publisher's website: The Apples and Pears spelling series: (Suitable for pupils who can't spell, or with spelling ages of less than 9 ½ years) This programme can be used with groups of pupils who are well-matched for spelling age, or it can be used for individual tuition. Unlike Dancing Bears and Fast Track, more advanced pupils do not need to start at the beginning. Placement tests are included in the product descriptions.

It's what we use.

We use the Sonlight catalogue as a reading list, and each core has separate lists for readers & read alouds.

On the menu bar at the top there are the different icons you can choose from (circles,lines, text, underlined text, etc). The one on the far right looks like a marker and a crayon (sort of :D). Select that one and another menu pops up so you can select line thickness and color, and also choose from "marker" or "colored pencil". Then just touch the screen. You don't need the stylus, you can just use your finger.

:iagree: We use PDF Expert for MEP and it works great. Kids write with fingers or stylus, change colors and line sizes, and email me pages to put in their portfolio.

Our afternoons were getting long too, and I allow very little screen time so I completely understand what you're going through! After talking to other moms that live near us, I realized it was a universal problem. We got together over the holidays and coordinated schedules as best we could so that several afternoons a week we are getting together with other families. So far it's been great! The kids are thrilled, I have another grown up to talk to a few days a week, and the afternoons fly by. If you know homeschoolers near you, you might be able to try a play date once in awhile. It helps pass the time, and it's fun! Another thing we do is send our kids to the farm down the road when it's chore time. They like having a purpose, and it's a wonderful, real life, work experience. You could look for volunteer work somewhere (try animal shelters, food banks, local library, etc). They might really enjoy having a "job".

They don't type on it, they write on the screen with their finger or the stylus. I had to buy the PDF expert app so that I could write on any PDF that I save on my iPad, but the $9.99 was well worth it when compared to printing costs. Almost every curriculum is available in PDF format now, so we have almost everything on the iPad, not just MEP. DD especially likes it because you can select different colors and line thicknesses. Sometimes her worksheet looks more like fingerprinting than math! :D I also have the kids email every tenth page to me, and I print that page and put it in their portfolios. All the rest, I delete. I hate having worksheets everywhere.

We completely bypass the printing issue by putting everything on my iPad. I read the lesson plans from it, and the kids do the worksheets right on it.

We just did a modified version of the Christmas around the world section from Galloping the Globe, and we also incorporated a bunch of ideas/printables/lap book pieces from homeschoolshare.

Let's Go Learn has an online diagnostic test that is very comprehensive and adjusts in difficulty based on student responses. There's a fee for it though, but you get a detailed report and suggestions on what areas to address. We use this and really like it! I think if you register for the free trial of Aleks math, there's an initial assessment that the student does.