I second Rod & Staff spelling! We love it. You could also use spelling city for free. Here's a link to spelling city with avko words already listed. You can print handwriting sheets also, all for free. http://www.spellingcity.com/avkofoundation/ Kim

I second that! We switched to Rod & Staff for spelling, penmanship and grammar, it's been wonderful for us. Before we switched, we use Spelling Power and I made handwriting sheets with the words using Start write. It was time consuming and he wasn't learning the rules. And it used a ton of ink. We are very happy with Rod & Staff. HTH, Kim

Mastering Mathematics is written for learning disabled children, even children with Downs Syndrome have used it. I use it with my son (add/adhd/dyslexic). It is mastery based, divided into 6 workbooks. One workbook for each operation. The Teacher's pages also tell you how to make it grade appropriate by doing pages from each book. It uses fact wheels and counting strips, which are included, but you have to cut them out. Here's the link http://www.masterypublications.com/ It's not a bad price for 6-8 years of math, I bought mine used on homeschool classifieds. Best Wishes, Kim

We only made it about 8 weeks into Beyond, it was too much reading out loud for us (2/1/2 hours a day). I felt like I was on top of my child all day....reading, reading, reading, math, English, reading...on and on. Also, the guide had me stop in the middle of a chapter and start a new book, it did not go back to the 1st book for a few weeks. That drove us nuts. My son hated the music and devotional. I didn't care for them either but we did give it a shot. When I looked ahead to to CTC guide and it has the child doing quiet time with cd's....we decided to call it quits. My son hates all music except for classical, he would never listen to it for quiet time. So, there's my gripe! HTH, Kim

I haven't used either of those programs, but CTT is available on currclick. I got one of their freebies once, so I remembered it. Go to http://www.currclick.com and on the vendor menu find CTT, they have samples there. HTH, Kim

Hi, I would try to not go overboard and do to much, that can be very overwhelming to a young child. My son has add/adhd and dyslexia, we took him out of school in Feb of his 2nd grade year because the school was going to "make" me medicate him. Short lessons throughout the day work best for us. After much trial and error we've found that My Fathers World has a great curriculum, short easy lessons with a lot of room to wiggle in it and free reading time. I like that it's a buy the set and I'm done with it curriculum. For us it's a great balance of book work and hands on things. I've never used CLE, however we LOVE Rod & Staff for English ( done orally), penmanship and spelling. We just started Easy Grammar ( 4th grade) and adore it. For math we are doing Saxon grade 3 because of the manipulatives. My son didn't understand the cuisenaire style rods that math u see uses, he does like to build with them! Whatever you choose, remember that you are not married to your curriculum. If it doesn't fit your child or you then sell it and move on and don't feel guilty for it! Remember to have fun! You have YEARS to give your child all of the knowledge that he needs to succeed in life. ETA, The reason for using Rod & Staff is that it is very plain, black & white text, the same with Saxon Math. The programs that have pictures and colors on the pages distract my child. example, with A Beka math he would ask to write stories about the cute dog on the math page, instead of doing his lesson. Removing that distraction has made our schooling go much easier. Blessings, Kim

Hi, this is my first posting here. I like Living Books Curriculum's holiday freebies. The one for St. Patrick covers the history of St. Patrick, picture study, map work, copy work and a recipe. I hope the link works, if it doesn't you can find it at currclick.com http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=28526&it=1&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=63 Have fun! Kim