I did not LOVE ECC when we did it. It was great starting out, but the whole year read different segments out of the same books and I just got bored with it. There is a formula to the program and you just really plug in different countries into the same formula for the most part. My son didn't mind at all, but I just need a little more variety. If you are looking for something easy to teach that will help your children learn about different cultures, then you will also love it. It just didn't work for me as a teacher mostly. Beth

I just bought science 4 for my ds to do independently. I tried to piece together my own stuff, but just couldn't do it. It hit me a few weeks ago that the year we did sonlight science had been our best science year. And that year was science K with the book that had a rotary phone in it explaining how phones work. So, I am trying it again and really like what I see. It wouldn't have been too hard to pull together on my own, but it helps me stay on track. It's making me rethink my science plans. I may just go with sonlight science for the whole crew as they mature. Beth

I just saw these the other day: http://stores.diannecraft.org/Categories.bok?category=Flashcards Beth

My ds is doing TT 6 because that's where he placed. I was a diehard Singapore math fan until life happened and I realized I just did not have the time to teach Singapore every day. TT seems to cover a lot of the same topics as in singapore without the great word problems. We will be starting to add just the word problems on Fridays. Otherwise, math gets done and ds doesn't complain. He does it and it frees me up. Beth

Here's what I want in science: lots of hands on, teaches reasons we can believe in creation, semi-independent, 4th grade... I did like apologia Astronomy, but it was a lot of reading and not much experiments. I've looked at God's design for science and can't get a good feel for it. It seems techy wordy. Bob Jones looks interesting, but it says it needs a lot of teacher involvement. The best year we had in science was when we did Sonlight, but it didn't have much on the creation stuff. Any suggestions? Beth

When ds was in 1st grade, we were doing math and it was a little tough. He said "Call me a cab and get me out of here!" I have no idea where he got that one since we live in a small town and there is no real cab service to speak of. Beth

I was using Singapore with Ds, but needed something more independent with him. TT6 has really helped a lot in that aspect. I do find that compared to Singapore, it is easy. I plan on supplementing with singapore word problems. The thing I do like about it - it is helping my son to work his math problems a little more carefully without getting upset at me. I'm not sure we'll keep with the program, but for the mom who really needs math to be more independent, it's a keeper. BEth

I second the Singapore 6A posts. Make sure she takes a placement test. The concepts in Singapore 4B are already starting with decimals and advanced fraction concepts. Already in 4A, there were story problems that were very tough to figure out without algebra. Beth

1st year with Tog using year 3 with an ug/lg 3rd grader. Beth

I'm thinking it's worth it. We are doing TOG light this year and last week, ds learned about the Supreme Court and wrote a paragraph paper on it (with TOG suggestions), learned what role Thomas Jefferson played in the start of the supreme court, and learned rhyme scheme (from an Upper Grammer book). I would have NEVER thought to pull all that together on my own. Looking at the higher levels, I can see that they will get a good liberal arts education focuing on the Great Books. The nice part is that it also teaches me how to teach them and have great discussions. That is a small price to pay for MY education as a teacher. Beth

We're having a busy year this year with an oldest son recovering from hip surgery and a new adopted daughter coming into the family. I decided to do TOG light. My ds 3rd grade ( a good reader) is reading all the books himself and I do assign the activity pages. We don't do any of the hands on activities at home and pick and choose the writing activities. It's a very simple year that way. I figure, at this age, I'm just exposing him to different material and getting him used to working on his own. We'll be using TOG more extensively as he gets older. We've got time... One thing I did set up though was a co-op. I found 4 other families who were doing TOG and convinced them to do a co-op for younger kids. Each of us only has to plan 3 activities for the whole year and our kids get the activities every two weeks without much effort on any of our parts. Just a thought. Beth

I haven't continued with MFW (we did Adventures and ECC) mostly because of 2 things: 1. I like to tweet things. With MFW, if I didn't like the book or the activity, it was up to me to find a substitute. Mostly, it just didn't happen. 2. I don't like to rely on a book basket to make it more interesting. Yes, you can do it without the book basket, but it overwhelmed me because those were the books that were more fun to read. I found out I like having all my books that are scheduled and not really have to get more. I know people who really love this program, and I really wanted to love it too, but it just didn't work for us. Beth

All Ablout Spelling. It is such an easy program to use and an easy program to teach. Very open and go. I have convinced others to use it also. I LOVE that it has dictation already in it, so I don't feel the need to look up extra dictation for ds. Beth

If you're in level 1, we used popsicle sticks and rubber bands for our base ten set. If I had been able to find poker chips (or something similar), that would have worked for the discs. The blocks we found we did not really need. beth

Use Flashmaster for math facts. It's an electronic flash card system and very easy to do. You can take 5 minutes or less a day and really get down those math facts. Beth

I couldn't tell if heymath! would teach each lesson for me. It seemed to be more of a teaching supplement? Maybe I just have to get the trial and try it out. I'm assuming I'm looking at the Singapore rather than the US version? Beth

I didn't even know Heymath! existed Does this actually teach the Singapore lessons for you?!?! Can you do more than one level? This is something to look into! Beth

I wouldn't care so much about binders being included - what matters would be the price. Beth

opinions on teaching textbooks please! I've heard everything from "I LOVE it" to "it's too easy for the child and they don't learn anything. What is your opinion? I'm looking at TT6 or 7. Beth

Yes- that is the problem. I love singapore, but it is very teacher intensive and I wonder how much you can really understand if it's being slight spoon fed (which is what I'm feeling a bit). He's on track to be in pre-algebra/algebra in 5th grade and I'm not convinced that's a good idea considering his age. Beth

Part of the problem with Singapore is that it doesn't have a lot of examples sometimes to work through together. Sometimes it does - it depends. I think part of my situation is that his math ability is starting to be hampered with his maturity. I have a soon to be 3rd grader working in Singapore 4b/5a (which is decimals and multiplying with fractions ect). He does best with the word problems suprisingly. Maybe I just need to work with what has been working and add in extras when he has problems. I don't ever see Singapore being even slightly independent- especially in the older grades. What to do what to do...I'm sure I'll just have to sit on it for a while and see what sticks. Beth

My concern with math u see is the high learning curve coming into a program in the middle. Do they use all those blocks and extra stuff you should already know about in the upper levels? Beth

Ds has been doing singapore for 3 years now. I really like the program, but need something a little less teacher intensive. This is how it goes with us, I teach him the lesson, he does the examples, and then needs help ( or me to sit by him) for the workbook homework. I will not have that kind of time next year. It has a little to do with him - he's a very social/perfectionist kind of guy, and maybe how I've let him not have to learn on his own? So...he's done with singapore 4a - and seems he would place in Saxon 54 or even 65 or teaching textbooks level 6. Any suggestions on how to get his child to be a little less dependent on me? I am looking for something not totally independent (because of his age), but more independent of my time to have to sit there with him for 30-40 minutes of uninterrupted siblings (not going to keep happening in this house!). Beth

The Tapestry of Grace is not the part I'm concerned about. I have that all scheduled out already for him to do independently. We have a co-op that will take care of the activities. So, that's not my big concern. I've heard not so good things about teaching textbooks. I so hate to change things that have been working well. I'll look into Horizons...it did seem a bit easier to do although I wasn't impressed with his math skills through it. Beth

I'm looking for curriculum ds can do independently - English, math, writing...I have been planning him to do Rod and Staff LA, Singapore math, and IEW (first 3 units) for writing. My life is blowing up around me in a way (good and bad) - to the point that DH said, "I wish there was a great Christian school we could use for a semester for free" (which there is most definately not!). If I switch him to Abeka math, will I hate that I did that? i really like Singapore, but it seems to require a lot of teaching time. What about writing? Help?