Thanks ladies! I appreciate your input.

Do you think it will be a big deal to skip level 4 altogether? We used GWG levels 2 and we're half way through 3. We've worked through these levels pretty quickly, doubling up on lessons. It's taking us about 6 months to work through one level. I'm noticing that there is LOTS and LOTS of review, which really works great for my kids. My boys are 11 and have been working behind grade level. I'm really trying to get them "caught up." I'm wondering if you have used these levels, would it be a huge jump from level 3 to level 5?

:grouphug: I know all to well about needing to vent. This is hard-I just came in from a long run after having a long whining session of my own. Homeschooling special needs kids is REALLY hard.

I plan on using this with the boys in the fall. We are currently using Winning With Writing and in all honesty, it is working. I just feel like we are playing catch up at this point since the boys are working 2 years behind grade level. They have progressed sooooo much in the last year. They have worked so hard and I am so proud of them. It is amazing how much they have progressed since taking them off the seizure meds. Right now we are working on WWW level 3. We normally complete 2-3 lessons in a day and completed level 2 in about 6 months. We should complete level 3 by August. My original plan was to work thru level 4 by January and then move on to level 5. Technically, the boys have early birthdays, being born in March (they just turned 11) so I know that they could possibly be in 4th grade and really only 1 year behind. After 6 years of homeschooling, I know I shouldn't be concerned with grade levels but I'm starting to look ahead and really don't want them to be 19 or 20 when they graduate. I know that many kids with special needs usually catch up by middle school age and I guess that is what I'm hoping for. Ok, I know I am rambling now, but back to IEW. I absolutely DREAD teaching writing. I worry that I am not or won't be able to properly teach writing. That brings me to IEW. I am intrigued by having the writing DVD's that will do the teaching for me. I also like the "idea" of IEW not using "grade levels". So ladies, what do you think? God Bless, Jasmine

:grouphug: As a mom to twins(11) with a history of epilepsy, I know first hand how heart breaking this is. I will be praying for you and hoping all goes well.

:iagree: I think I would let her know that I didn't need her cooking lessons but possibly gift her with an etiquette book.

:iagree: That was beyond rude. I can't wrap my head around her requesting the menu. Really? We have some dietary restrictions and I would never think of doing something like that. I would offer to bring something that was "safe" for my family to eat.

Praying for you today. :grouphug:

We have been using Sequential Spelling 1 along with the newer workbooks and the DVD. My boys have really enjoyed it. I especially liked it because the DVD allowed my boys to work independently. I just recently posted the Sequential Spelling DVD on the sale forums.

My husband is a lieutenant with the Sheriff's Office. He has a Masters in Political Science and is working on his 2nd Master's in Theology. I work from home part-time, but we basically live on the one income.

:iagree: I agree. I'm hispanic and it drives me nuts when I have to mark that box asking me to choose between hispanic white or hispanic black. I assume that it refers to the color of our skin, since you can be hispanic and about any color of the rainbow ;) . I usually just choose other, LOL. I don't refer myself as white. I'm just Puerto Rican.

I agree. Most days I am able to get things done by 6pm. That is ONLY because we have VERY FEW outside activities and I keep a very strict schedule because I work part time from home. My home is not very big and I get most of my housework done on the weekends. I like having my evenings to unwind, but I imagine it would be upsetting if my husband REQUIRED this of me.

I seriously need to stop lurking on these boards. I already have a BAAAAD case of curriculitis. Here is some background on my boys. They are 11 year twins with a history of epilepsy, severe speech apraxia and some auditory processing issues. They are not working at level, but have really improved over the last year or so. We worked through WWE 1 and some of WWE 2 before I decided to switch to Winning With Writing 2. It was just what we needed and we quickly worked through that level in about 6 months. I decided we weren't doing "enough" so I picked up WWE 2 again and we just recently started WWW 3. It just seems to work for us. I LOVE the short, simple lessons and we often are averaging about 3-5 lessons at a time. We will be finishing up by late summer before moving on to level 4. I'm so glad we are finally "catching up". My problem is that I've heard such wonderful things about IEW and I'm not feeling very confident in teaching writing. At first I was thinking of working through WWW4 and then moving on to IEW, but now I'm wondering if I should just start them on IEW once they complete WWW 3? Decisions, decisions! Then a really good friend, a fellow homeschooling mama asked why on earth I would switch if WWW was working. Umm...I don't know, except for the thought of them watching someone else teach them makes me feel better? Is that a good enough reason? I admit, I always want to try something else and I know I need to stop that, LOL. This is another reason I need to stop reading these boards! ;) So what do you guys think? Curriculitis or a good plan?

Well, hubby surprised me with a new IPAD 3 yesterday! Its wifi with 16GB but I'm sure it will do. I'm so excited! We don't have any fancy gadgets around here, besides my kindle and thats not so fancy ;) Anyway, I'm LOVING all the educational apps and now burning some of our audio books so that I can transfer to itunes. I plan on using it mostly for homeschooling and my boys and I have been so distracted by the new toy, we can hardly focus on getting school done. Thankfully after we get done with lessons for today, we are starting our much needed spring break. I'm trying to figure out how to get my pdf's over. I know I read a few threads about this in the past, so I have some digging to do. Anyway, I just had to share :tongue_smilie:

Both of my boys are special needs. They are 11 and they are also considered "behind" as well. I'm really trying to get away from that line of thinking, but I get what you mean. We used Horizons Math from grades 1-3. I was really bummed when we completed Calvert Math 1 and found Horizons 2 to be too advanced for them. They placed into Horizons 1. I felt like we were doing 1st grade math all over. I found that math placement really differs between the different math programs. Yes, Horizons Math is considered about 1 grade level "ahead" of other math programs.We stuck it out with Horizons until about a month ago. Its a great program, but we really needed a change. What worked for us then didn't work for us now. We were half way through Horizons 3 when we switched to Teaching Textbooks and they placed at level 4 and are working pretty quickly through it. We should be starting level 5 by Sept.

I actually called Apple about this. Unfortunately, no discount on the Ipad at this time. They do offer discounts on the mac books. I was told there is no set discount, that it depends on the model.

:bigear:

We also joined through a local homeschool group deal and my boys love it! The price is great compared to the individual membership price. I believe its $199.00 regular price.

:lurk5:

Here is the response I got back from Teaching Textbooks: We are definitely working on it, but we are also working on updating the higher grade levels of our software to the automated grading format that grades 3-Algebra 1 currently use. I don't have an estimate for when they will be complete but I do know that the Android version may be available before the iOS version simply because Apple does not support Flash on their devices and our program does use it, so we would need to rebuild it from the ground up to make it work on iOS devices.

Thats what I figured. I wondered if there was some way to plug in a cd drive. There has to be a way! LOL! I did email Teaching Textbooks to see if this would possibly be an option soon. I haven't heard back. We are using the Sequential Spelling dvd and I see where they now have an app available. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I am so itching for an ipad right now! The boys' laptop is on its last leg and I'd rather have an ipad vs. another laptop (at least for the boys' use) and my biggest concern is Teaching Textbooks. Would I be able to use this on an ipad? This could be a deal breaker for us.

I really intend to make this a priority, but I'm having a hard time making it fit in our school day. You may want to check out Family Time Fitness' Homeschool PE program: http://familytimefitness.com/fitness4homeschool/Fitness4HomeSchool.php

We usually ordered ours through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op or AOP directly, right around April or May when they have the big sale on Horizons and offer free shipping.