I know the traditional "progression" would be Geometry, then Alg. 2 and then an Advance math course. My son is just finished Lials Intro Alg after STRUGGLING through it for nearly 2 years. And I do mean struggling. In fact, I do not think he retained much at.all. :( I am not sure where to go from here. He is entering 11th and is obviously not a math person. He will not be entering a STEM field or anything close, lol. He is a musician and I have no doubt he will go that route for his career path...likely performance related. My main concern with this child is the SAT/ACT. I need him to be prepared for this by the end for this year. I have MUS Geometry for him to use and also TT Algebra 2 as well as Lials Intermediate Algebra. As he is not a math person, I am thinking TT Alg. 2 would be best though not as "rigorous" as most programs. What to do? Should I give him a "break" and do Geometry? Should I move right into Alg. 2 so he doesn't completely forget everything he learned in Alg. 1? Do both this year? Help? :)

I am overwhelmed. Our year hasn't even started and I am feeling burned out simply by LOOKING at all that will be required of me. I have 6 children at home (oldest 11th, youngest 1st) and a few still require some hand holding in various subjects. I will be spread thin and I am trying to reduce the amount of actual teaching time I have by using some DVD and online classes for upper level math. I am stuck in that I have no more funds in our budget for homeschool curriculum other than what was already planned. I already own Lials Introductory Algebra and have used it with 2 students now. One did very well (she is very mathy) and the other has taken 2 years to get through it and hasn't retained much. I used Saxon Algebra 1 with my oldest and nearly halfway through realized she was NOT doing well AT ALL. This, after doing VERY well with Saxon since 5/4. So, we backed up to the beginning using Lials and she finally "got it" and did well moving forward (but lost a year). But that experience with my oldest has frightened me, lol, and I am hesitant to go back to Saxon! For my rising 9th grader my options are limited due to budget (as always). I can use Lials, which would require much more teaching time on my part (If I could afford Jann's online class I would do it in a heartbeat b/c she is AWESOME!). OR I could use Saxon Algebra 1 through Virtual Homeschool Group's free online classes. Option #1 requires more of my time (dh is not a math person and could NOT teach this) but I am less hesitant to use Lials than Saxon. Option #2 doesn't require as much of my time but after that exp. with my oldest, Saxon Alg. terrifies me! Any other ideas? In a perfect world, I would outsource this altogether to free up my time completely (with the exception of help with "homework"). Thanks.

They really are gorgeous notebooks. We used them with Human Anatomy last year and I loved them. My kids, however, did not. :( They groaned every time we took them out. But they would have groaned at anything that required them to actually WRITE about what they read, lol. For the $ they are fabulous notebooks. It really helped ME by having it all there in one place and kept me accountable each time we read. I mean, I spent all that $ on those beautiful notebooks, we surely were going to use them! If we do another Apologia text I would probably get the notebooks again...even WITH the groaning. ;)

That is a very good idea. I think I will keep plugging along with Singapore using this schedule and some extra practice. Perhaps add in a Saxon lesson every now and again as necessary. Or maybe not.

By "review lessons" do you mean the ones in the textbook? I will look at the extra practice books. He doesn't need more challenge at this point...just more review. I am thinking of staggering the Singapore and Saxon. Idk. Lol.

Textbook, workbook and some Cwp.

I've been using Singapore Math for years now. It has worked well for my kids until now. My rising 6th grader doesn't seem to be retaining anything from Unit to Unit. He need more built-in review than what Singapore offers. For financial reasons, I have to use what I have for Math. Since I already have the Textbooks and the workbooks are so cheap, I have to stick with this. :/ Could anyone help me figure out how to build in more review so he doesn't keep forgetting concepts? I also have an old Saxon 6/5 textbook that I contemplated using for him. I'm not sure what to do. Could I somehow combine those? Any ideas that wouldn't require me to purchase anything else? Or at least that wouldn't be more expensive than purchasing the next Singapore workbook ($12 or so)? My brain is fried from planning and I just need somebody to say, "Do this". Thanks.

Writing Tales? We've used it in the past and I just purchased it for my 4th grader (after forgetting about it for many year, lol).

There was this thread on diagramming in which there was a link to a Diagramming Book: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/522109-diagramming/?hl=%2Bdiagramming&do=findComment&comment=5805204 Not sure of any other public domain books. There is KISS grammar (free) and I did happen upon some other free download to use with my 12yo last year. Let me look for them and I'll post again if I can find them. There is also Emma Serl's ILL which is now public domain.

I use Cozi. I was hoping for something along the lines of a lesson planner where I can create a checklist, or a schedule or something and have my boys be able to pull it up on their iPods to see their assignments for the day and check off what they have done. Thanks, though...I do like Cozi for our family. :)

Some stand out to me as having been wonderful books...Miracles on Maple Hill is one of them. Fabulous. Love it. Sarah, Plain and Tall also very good. Freedom Train...amazing! Careful with more sensitive readers, though. In the beginning of the book (forget the chapter) there is a fairly vivid description of young Harriet being whipped. Let's see...my children also enjoyed Pedro's Journal, Pocahontas and the Strangers, What's the Big Idea Ben Franklin?, Matchlock Gun, Johnny Tremain. We did NOT like Across Five Aprils. My children loathed the book and as I was not such a fan of it myself I did not make them finish it. In fact, I believe we read another Civil War book instead. :)

I am trying to find a homeschool planner, scheduler, etc. that is compatible with the iPod touch and (in a perfect world) also with the Nook, Kindle, etc. My older boys each have an iPod touch and I would love to find something that would sync across their devices and my Macbook. I have OLLY for my Mac but I don't think I can download it onto their iPods? Can I? Is there something else that would work just as well? Would also be wonderful if I could also have the same app on the Nook and Kindle for my younger kids. Thanks for any suggestions!

CLE Language Arts has most of things covered in workbook form. www.clp.org. Will need to supplement writing most likely.

Are there any other diagramming resources? Just something that covers diagramming to use alongside our own grammar program (which does not cover it). I've looked at RR and found Mary Daly's diagramming guide. Is there anything else? Perhaps a website or simple workbook? Thanks.

In2why, this book looks like exactly what I have been looking for to help my rising 6th grader. His reading skills are lagging behind though he has made significant improvement. He did a program last year called Read Live! online and it looks very similar to this book except it was online. Learning vocabulary, chunking and then reading for fluency and speed. This has the added benefit of expression as well. Why am I so put of by the fact that it was used in a public school? LOL. Isn't that crazy? I really would like to try it for my son, along with him reading "normal" books and perhaps even CLE Reading. I am very intrigued. The price doesn't seem so bad. I've paid more for grammar books and math curriculum. ;)

No apologies! Hijack away. ;) I am not a fan of Abeka. I had an older edition Grammar and Comp and I just don't think it'll work for him. :/ AG "might" work but again, I am not sure. Since my original posting, I have pretty much decided to go with IEW Narnia for his writing this year. I have it, I like it and we're gonna try it! ;) Grammar...I am torn. I could go back to R&S 6 and suffer through another year, give AG a try OR just get Easy Grammar for this year and do AG next year when he's a bit more "mature". I'm thinking at this point we need to focus more on the writing than the heavy grammar. Easy Grammar would fit the bill paired with IEW Narnia. I will look into Shurley (the jingles might work for this child) Any other thoughts?

We are using TLP over the summer and I think it is perfect for summer study to keep skills fresh. I don't think I would use it as my only LA program throughout the year. The spelling is not rules-based (if that makes a difference to you) and I prefer R&S for spelling anyway. I think you could easily use both. Use the TLP words as enrichment, kwim? I don't think TLP has enough grammar, at least not in my opinion and not for 5th grade. I would use something separate for grammar. Perhaps not something as rigorous as R&S but perhaps something like ILL or Easy Grammar? I would also add separate writing. But thats just me, lol. It might be enough for what you are looking for. I guess it all just depends on how much you feel is enough in these separate subjects, kwim?

Bethany, I was sitting her contemplating the same thing. I've used LLATL in the past and am considering it again for my 8th grader. The only thing I can see being "overlap" with HOD would be the dictation exercise each week in LLATL. And that is an easy fix. Just skip either the dictation in LLATL -OR- skip the dictation in HOD for that particular day. I still haven't decided what to do...if it will be too much for my son (who needs simple)... Sigh. I keep going back and forth on English programs for him. R&S, LLATL, Easy Grammar, etc...

Please tell me what age group this is for? I have completely forgotten...lol. Thanks!

I am having a similar problem with my 3 younger children. We've used SM US Ed. all the way through and I am just noticing that retention is lacking and realizing that the review in SM just isn't enough. :/ I am looking into CLE for my 11yo and 8yo. My 13yo would have to go back too many levels in CLE for my comfort so we are trying TT7 with him. I don't know about the review in TT7 but I need something that is near grade-level for him but still covers everything he needs to learn. I will put my 3rd grader in CLE 300 and probably start my 6th grader in that level as well, for the review. I also plan to keep using SM occasionally and def. the CWP.

Are you a military or missionary family? I seem to recall that HOD is very generous toward military and missionary families in the form of shipping discounts. Don't quote me on that, though. I might be imagining this! Anyway, I do not have experience with Veritas but have used HOD for many years. After a year break to do some other things with our co-op, we are back to nearly 100% HOD! Yippee! HOD is easy to implement so that is a huge plus for me. Very Christ-centered...another huge plus. I love the book choices & the Charlotte Mason-esque approach. Preparing is my favorite year, btw. ;) I am not a fan of the younger guides (like LHFHG and Beyond), but I do like Bigger Hearts and up. I think each Guide gets better and better. But if you have to economize and order form one publishes, LHFHG and Beyond are not BAD programs at all. Just didn't "fit" with us I guess. Sorry I can't compare it to Veritas but maybe somebody else can.

I find that CBD has very similar prices to RR (sometimes even better) and their customer service is fabulous. I've never had an issue with backorders and their return policy is top notch. Shipping is super fast, too. I order most of my books through CBD or Amazon. RR is a last resort for me, too. Not to mention that CBD usually has a free shipping code out for orders over $35 while RR is over $50. :/ So sorry you are having to deal with this.

Just curious if you feel it is sufficient or needs to be supplemented. We used R&S Spelling last year and I liked it b/c it did teach rules. My dc will also be using HOD which includes dictation as the spelling. Would that, combined with the spelling in CLE, be enough? Does the spelling follow any rule patterns? Just looking for some opinions before I settle on CLE for my 4th and 6th graders. Thanks!

Oh no!!! Praying for them both!

We used it successfully with that age group last year. I had a 5, 8, 10, 13 and 14yo using it. Actually, our co-op used it for 3rd-8th gr. science last year and everybody had a blast and learned a ton! My 5yo (who was very mature and ahead) listening to the readings each day but didn't really do his Journal. That was ok with me. My other kids did and though they complained, they were quite proud of it at the end of the year. My 13yo has writing issues, too, so his wasn't as "complete", lol. We used a variety of other resources, too. Magic School Bus videos, youtube clips for the "bone song", etc. It IS one of the more difficult Apologia texts for elementary, but if you have it and are excited to use it then I say do it! Worst that can happen is it doesn't work out and then you can sell it and buy another one! LOL. Apologia has a great resale value. I've even been able to "trade" one for another.