We used the first half this year. My feelings are mixed about it. My kids liked it a lot. I liked how it was organized. I didn't like spending six weeks each on Columbus, Jamestown and Pilgrims. It moved too slow for me, but the kids learned a lot and really know those topics. They liked the art and nature/science lessons. I liked the copywork pages, but those aren't included in the second book, much to my disappointment. I decided not to continue with the second half. The resources that come with the package are wonderful and we will continue to use them for a long time. HTH.

Flashmaster is my kids preferred method for daily practicing math facts. They don't have to worry about impressing me and if they get frustrated, they are frustrated with FM, not me! I love that little machine!

My ds9 loved 100 Cupboards by ND Wilson and is now devouring the second book, Dandelion Fire. It's not a spy series, though, but it is good fiction!

I don't have 1B in front of me right now, but I think you could just go through the unit emphasizing adding equal groups by skip counting, then move on. It's introductory in first grade, in my opinion. My 2nd grader is just finally comfortable with her tables and she is almost done with 2B. HTH.

and it was called....?

Thanks to Colleen's suggestion, I downloaded the Elementary and Middle School Plans for Teaching Writing. They were both excellent, clear and concise. I decided not to buy a writing curriculum for next year and just use SWB's suggestions. My oldest are still elementary, but I really needed to see where we were going with all this narration/dictation. I plan to listen to the HS lecture as well. Very helpful resources, especially since this is so different from what I "learned" in school!

Thanks, I'll look at those as well. After glancing at CW, I'm not sure I'm up for the learning curve approach right now, we're expecting a baby in July. So, maybe I'll just stick with WWE, at least we know what we're doing and it is working. Maybe Level 4 is more challenging. My son looked at the MCT Island level and thought it looked better than FLL, but he really hated how repetitive FLL3 was and he'd probably say he liked whatever wasn't FLL4! They both enjoy grammar and writing, I don't want to damage that in any way or drop either all together! Searching this site for CW and MCT reviews is pretty funny. Curriculum options are like opera, you hate the program or you love it. I'm glad to have options! :001_smile:

This is exactly why I'm scratching my head in wonder. I didn't really have a road mapped out! I used FLL and WWE because that's what was recommended, they are easy to use and understand and my kids have really improved and are doing well. I just hadn't thought about what the next step would be, what we were working towards. My WTM is loaned out, but I'll read up on the logic stage when I get it back and maybe that will clear things up for me. I've looked at Classical Writing and IEW and they are so different from what I learned in school or what my nieces and nephews are learning in public school, I'm just not sure what to make of them. However, I don't think I was really taught a process or progression in writing. My nieces and nephews are required to submit topic papers each week, but there is no attention to grammar or spelling or flow, just the number of sentences on topic. I don't really want to go that route, it doesn't make much sense at all! I suppose it's just another leap of faith. Maybe I'll order CW and MCT and give it a try, seeing as they get such rave reviews here! :001_smile: It wouldn't be the first time I found gems from this board! Thanks for trying to point me in some kind of direction!

I've received our shipments pretty quickly, within a week if I recall correctly. HTH!

I'm having trouble choosing a writing curriculum for next year because I'm not sure what goal I'm trying to reach, what exactly I should be teaching next. Ds9 (3rd) and dd8(2nd) have done very well with WWE 2 and 3. They give excellent narrations for WWE passages and the chapter books they read. They are doing better with dictation now that we are further along in All About Spelling. Grammar was a walk in the park with FLL3 and we worked through it quickly. They write 4-5 sentence paragraphs about our history subject each day for copywork. I guess what I mean to say is, everything is working great, so what next? Another year of WWE? WWE 4 looks very similar to WWE 3. Same with FLL 4. I'm concerned that they are getting bored and need to be challenged to take it to the next level. What is the next level? What curriculum am I looking for? What are the skills that narration, copywork and dictation have prepared us to tackle next? Thanks for your help, I feel like a fish out of water!

We started with Ancients and it was great. My kids loved SOTW 1 and 2, pyramids, togas, castles, the plague. This year we started American History in depth and we add in SOTW 3 once or twice a week. There is a lot of great literature for their reading levels available. We spent six weeks on Columbus and explorers and they could really get into why people explored and what it must have been like. We spent a month on Roanoke and Jamestown and visited Jamestown. We are enjoying a month focusing on the Pilgrims. My older two can get so much more involved with the history than my younger kids. I'm sure there are good reasons to start with either. Just wanted to say that we went with the four year cycle and I'm pleased as punch with how my older kids are interacting with the wealth of American History resources available to them at this stage.:001_smile:.

I have a cuisinart as well. I put the ingredients in the chilled bowl for 25-30 minutes, it starts to look creamy but is not solid enough to eat as ice cream. Then I add in the chunky stuff and let that mix in for a couple of minutes. I pour it into a sealed container and freeze for at least four hours, but usually I make it before lunch to be ready for after dinner. HTH!

Thank you, Ann and Angela! I feel so much better about ordering this now. Thanks for the schedule. I like things that are simple to implement and this looks like it fits the bill! Many thanks!:001_smile:

If all you are looking for is a variety of read-aloud selections, I think you are right about skipping Sonlight. I would just pick a handful of books (picture books, short chapter books, a couple of poetry books, maybe some mother goose and illustrated fairy tales) and have them on hand to read aloud. You can always ask people to recommend what their 5-6 year olds are enjoying listening to. FWIW, my kids liked Little Pear, The Boxcar Children, Two Times the Fun, and anything by Dick King Smith (especially Water Horse and Lady Lollipop). Fun, light-hearted stories that are well-written and enjoyable to read aloud. My kids also love Jack Prelutsky poetry, he has so many books. HTH!

Thank you, Aylene! I assume that since you plan to buy more activity books, your kids enjoy them and you find them useful? When you say they make the program NOT open and go, is that because they are extra and you have to figure out when to add them in? Or are the activities correlated to each lesson and I would just have to find time to include them? I wasn't thinking of including the activity books, but if they are worthwhile and easy to implement, I might. Would your kids recommend them? Thanks!

Is this program open and go? I was planning to buy the Mastery Bundle to use the DVD's. I was going to use Lively Latin but it looks like it would require some set up and organizing different parts, etc.. I really want a program where we just open to the next page, next lesson and get it done. Is LFC like that? Also, do I need a text for each child? Thank you so much!

I loved Guernsey, Secret Fan and Water for Elephants. I didn't like March, but that's just me. Another book I really loved that I finished recently was The Secret Scripture by Barry and When You Reach Me. HTH!

I second MFW K. I used it with my first two dc and plan to use it next year for my dd4. It was just enough, but not too much and they really enjoyed it! I'll be teaching 4th, 3rd and 1st next year, so open and go is ideal. HTH!

I am almost finished reading 100 Cupboards to my ds9, dd8, and ds6. They have loved it and so have I. We already ordered Dandelion Fire to start when we finish the first book!

I purchased RS4K Pre-Level Chemistry to use this spring with my ds9 and dd8. Now I've been given Ellen McHenry's Elements, which I didn't even know about before. They both look like great programs. These two kids are very bright and interested in science, I think they would enjoy the Elements curriculum, but RS4K is colorful and geared towards their ages. I haven't looked that closely at either to know if I could use one and then the other or if that would be redundant. What would you do?

Many thanks! I knew it was right there in front of me, but we were drawing it out all wrong! My son sends his thanks as well!

Maybe my brain is just fuzzy today, but I can't see how my son should set this problem up. Thanks for your help! 1 mango and 1 papaya together cost $4.70. Krystle bought 2 mangoes and 5 papayas for $13.00. How much did the two mangoes cost? The answer key gives $7.00 as the answer, but I can't figure out how they deduced that number.

I found the same problem when trying to use it with my oldest three, it was way too time intensive. I stagger it now for the older two and I'm waiting on the 5yo, he really doesn't need this now. So, Monday, I teach my ds8 the lesson with the tiles and he writes the first list in his notebook. For the rest of the week, I dictate three of the phrases or sentences right after breakfast while I clean up. I can remind him of a rule if I see him stumped, but I'm not just sitting there doing nothing while he painstakingly uses his most perfect cursive writing. Then, Wednesday, I give my daughter her next lesson with the tiles and she takes dictation on the other days in the same manner. Usually, if she is struggling, my son will tell her the rule, thus reinforcing previous rules for himself. This has made it manageable. It is such a great program for our family, I wasn't willing to drop it. HTH!:001_smile:

We love it here as well. I bought it from the company. They are very pleasant to work with and it arrived quickly. It's so easy to use. We use it daily instead of the Saxon drill sheets.

My older two like to use Flashmaster for drill practice. They practice two tables each day. They make steady progress and they don't complain, a magical combination for us!