I try to combine them whenever I can. My 8yo ds gets frustrated whenhe is overloaded with writing. I have found that his penmanship is much neater when he has less. Infact, I will often use his memory verse as well so we get a "3 for 1". :) He still has writing assignments in English, history, and science twice a week so it's enough to satisfy me but not overwhelm him. Additionally, I have found that Startwrite is ideal for this as I can type up anything for him in the font and size he needs.

With four boys I consider it vital to give them breaks. However, I've found that they don't have to be long. Often times 5-10 minutes is enough. They might swing, climb the tree, or work on a Lego or other project. The 8yo has more breaks than the 11yo, but he really needs it as he is just more active. On average, I'd say that the 8yo takes 3-4 short breaks and the 11yo 1-2.

No advice really, but my ds8 does the same thing. I will gently correct him, but not always. I'm just so thankful he's reading. :)

Thanks so much Tiffany. I knew there had to be one out there! :)

If you are looking to move away from Saxon, Teaching Textbooks has received high praises from both parents and children in our local homeschool community. And yes, my oldest ds went to pre-algebra (albeit ABeka... TT wasn't available) from 7/6.

nt

nt

I've read in a few Charlotte Mason resources that it's best to correct spelling right way. Otherwise the child tends to retain the wrong spelling and therefore he'll recall the incorrect spelling in future writings.

Thanks Alana... good point. I'm going there now to check the shipping.

Thank you ladies. Just what I'd hoped to hear. And wow Heather! Thanks for the additional info and link. I'm amazed at what's available. The options have grown immensely since I started with my oldest. (He just turned 19.) :)

nt

nt

Thanks chiguirre. Not what I was hoping to hear.:confused: Anyone else?

Hmmm... 60 pages and cardstock! I may just have to wait. Thank you!

nt

The impatient part of me wants to have the instant gratification of a download. ;) But, the practical side says the $5 difference is not worth my ink and paper. Would someone mind providing me with the amount of pages if I were to get the ebook?

I can't compare the two, but I can tell you that we love Apologia. My boys look forward to it and the retention factor is very high. I attribute this to the focused studies (probably the biggest difference between the two curriculums), experiments, and notebooking. We will begin Astronomy tomorrow after using Zoo 2 this year. Warmly,

We have used Apologia's Zoo 2 and will begin using Astronomy tomorrow. Apologia is the one subject my boys ask for. We started last year and I am so pleased with the retention. I attribute that to the focused studies, experiments, and notebooking. There are also two families in our co-op (with both boys and girls) that have had similar positive experiences. Also, you may (if uyou haven't already) want to take a look at the reviews at cbd.com. We highly recommend Apologia! :)

After completing our fifth week... LOVE (Mom and boys): Math U See (Returned to it and now there are no frustrations with math!) CLP'S Nature Reader Series Queen's Language Lesson Series There have been no real dissapointments so far. The boys have never been crazy about narration and dictation, but I consider it a vital part of their English skills and have seen the benefits.

Thank you Julie! This is just what I needed to know. :)

...Do you need both the Bible and History? From the samples, it seems that the History Cards includes some Bible facts as well.

Thanks ladies! This has been very helpful.

nt

Thank you Holly. I should mention that I'll be supplementing our (mostly) CM approach. The boys regularly do copywork, dictation, and both oral and written narration. I just thought it'd be nice to mix it up with some more structured writing for my 11yo. He does written narrations well, but with some reluctance and I want to avoid burn-out for him.

nt