Thank you for the reply. I was encouraging the poster to evaluate and realize the complexity of language arts could not necessarily be fulfilled with a singular source. Even WTM resources address several aspects of the subject content in various books. I hope it did not sound as if I was demeaning your resource. I do,however,feel that LA and math should not be self study at the grammar stage. I truly hope readers focus on the statement that I was only briefly able to view your product. Again, my apologies for the short and less concise address.

I have an old HP 1022 laser, black and white only. I can say that get between 2,000 to 4,000 or more pages for a 75-dollar cartridge. I can sometimes push more if I use draft print. I only print Math in color, which is a reason that I like MM. I paid 100 dollars for it on clearance.

Honestly, neither of my previous 4th graders were very independent. I didn't really see independence without hovering until 5th grade. It was a gradual thing that developed over the 5th with a checklist in place. More than likely, if it resembles LLATL in any respect, it will require you to some exent. My brief overview the other day leads me to think that this was a culmination of experiences from a homeschool mom. I would look at the overall content and compare to standards for the grade level. World Book has a set of common standards, or typical course study, http://www.worldbook.com/typical-course-of-study?wbredirect=1&Itemid=216 Many of such resources are great starting places, but not inclusive of a subjects typical grade level content. I have used many myself, but found much need to supplement for both content and development. By no means should you expect to meet all of a course's content, but there is no reason to short change academics over ease of use and a refusal to prepare content suited for the student's needs. Keep in mind that something as easy as Scholastics supplemental, or topical, workbooks may be all you need to round of this particular book. I hope this helps, but I wanted to add in a few thoughts too with all of the new found interest. :) So, back to your original question ... perhaps, but not solely independent in the 4th grade. Understanding consequences is something that develops over time from about the age of 9 (at the earliest). That is that the child can predict or form some expectation of the end result. Kids are, of course, very self gratifying and accustomed to immediate reaction and reward. LA in itself is not a very independent study for my 7th grader due to the intensity of her writing and her narrative style. Literature requires a great deal of time as well. I do leave her alone for grammar and diagramming, as well as vocabulary/spelling.

And ... phonics should consume first and second grade anyway! LOL (I am hiding my soapbox. ;) )

Simply Poetry and Simply Spelling You buy the sets or seperate. Also, I love Elemental Science, Pandia Press, Math Mammoth, Rod & Staff, Journey Through Grammar Land, Hake, Write Source/Writer's Express ... so many more. :)

No, finish MM6 - Math Mammoth Level 6 A and B. Not for the concept but for the arithmetic mastery.

Ours is good. Usually, it is teens that rebelled and had troubled youth not drug dealers or hardened criminals. :)

For that age ... Introduction to Science, Elemental Science; Life of Fred; MCP workbooks; Math Mammoth ... All lend themselves to be used as an AS enrichment.

I have let mine go to PS. That being said, I would allow the student to stay. At this age, they really must start making decisions and understanding the consequences. My dd13 elected to return in Oct. to homeschool. Of course, little miss first was pulled as well. I am not driving around for one student that needs 3 hours of study a day. I do think this is an age where social interaction is needed too. You can only provide some of the teen "drama". This "drama" is primal for learning consequence from a social perspective. Keep that in mind as you decide to homeschool without any PS attendance. I manage this through teen clubs, library events, and other various social groups and lessons. Just using church resources do not seem to be as "dramatic" as real life. Kids are on their best behavior for fear the building will collapse! As for all of that ... make sure this is not an emotional decision because your nest feels empty. Many a student is successful with the remedial education of a PS school. (my intentional kick at the core curriculum standards) They continue on to college and wind up being our doctors and our lawyers too. Encourage and help him, but offer the out always. I make mine typically commit for the entire year. However, there are circumstances that may require me to bend, as was the case this year. The new administrator had drastically altered the physical and educational environment.

Ouch .. no GED/HS doesn't leave her much of an option. She needs to have a diploma/equivalency. Try Job Corp...http://www.recruiting.jobcorps.gov/en/home.aspx They train ages 16-24. HTH

The Legend Series - Marie Lu

Neither .... I installed IIS on my computer and run a network. LOL OK, really, for normal people ... Love OneNote. I have notebooks that have copied entire worksheets, linked files, keep recipes, etc. It is much, much better! How to use it ... http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/getting-started-with-onenote-2013-FX102828001.aspx And ... don't forget that you can use dropbox too! Save url shortcuts for videos, worksheets, etc.

Why not the Percy Jackson series too?

I wrote on this ... http://www.thelearningtrunk.com/say-yes-to-cursive/

I am all about the folders. I plan using 36 folders - one folder for each week. I stick all papers and activites, as well instruction sets, in the folder for the week. This allows some freedom to finish all or most of a subject as the child would like. It helps to teach responsibility. Their job is school, and as such, they must complete their tasks by the week end. I use HST to layout lessons and divide pages equally, as well as to keep attendance, mark items completed, as well as journal any other activities. There are times when we yell "UNSCHOOL" ... and the day is left to exploration and self learning. I schedule or plan for these days at least once every week to every other week. They have interests that I allow them to explore regardless of the subject. For example, one day was spent with a dead snake found on the road, which lead to the librarian's questioning looks as we asked for books on autopsy and decomp! Yes, I like to homeschool - if for no other reason, than to get those reactions.

I work at home and away from home. The biggest thing that I did was label 36 folders and buy HST. I have one milk crate for each child with 36 hanging files labeled "week 1", "week 2", etc. I stuff everything in there. Their books are even in there. The next best thing was sticker stars. In our house, that means see me first. Lastly, HST has been my best friend for planning and recording. End of year is a breeze. I grab from the weekly folders and print from HST. Done. Otherwise, shut your door, make some coffee, and turn the ringer on the phone up (in my case, all three!).

I consider 5-8 to be the logic stage of education. Thus, you can see my lineup through the 7th now. It is on my blog. I am only beginning to document the grammar stage, and my educational plans and schedules are not posted yet. HTH. :) I have a bunch of "gunk" on there from those years, including reading lists, copywork, research hunts, etc.

Longer passages ... This is where I like Simply Spelling. And, agree with your reasons as well.

After R&S 5, I went to A Journey Through Grammarland. It is not a traditional approach, and it is a much more gentler handling of grammar. My dd was bored with grammar, and not yet done with mastery. If you find R&S to be too rigorous, and you want to break free a little, try it. A great read ... http://www.howtotutor.com/journey.htm The link includes sample pages too. This reminds me of Life of Fred for grammar. :) I would like to place a thumbs up on Analytical Grammar too ... loved it with my first. My second child is not a workbook fan, and I homeschool so I can adjust a little, LOL.

I have in a manner of speaking. I will say that it is a great prep for moving into prealgebra as stated. My pros were .... It is workbook format. I bought the digital download one time for two students, and I can reprint lessons past or present to focus on content. I purchased the green and gold sets to work with additional materials and review as well. I love the Math in Real Life books. They work wonderfully with my older student. The font and color were pleasing. Tests are just long enough to objectively gauge if subject matter has been understood. I like the closeness in which the program borders a spiral and mastery approach. I appreciate being able to easily identify a problem type and choose how many we do or do not complete for a lesson. I like the review at the end of each chapter. I like the way in which chapters are content grouped and concepts evolve and are applied. I feel that there is a good focus on mental math as well. I use a folder method for planning, ie 36 weeks of folders for each student, and I can add the lessons loosely. Great links for facts and practice to generate more worksheets. (I made a dry-erase facts using the generated worksheets.) BTW, MM now has videos too. My cons... I really would appreciate more teaching instructions and tips/tricks. You have to know your math. The lessons are not easily divided for the year. You will need to prepare your lessons and teaching methods in advance. You have to understand the lesson prior to teaching it. There are no lessons to "read". You have to print it, and this means paper and ink must be a consideration in the total cost for a digital download. I think that there should be more fact and practice focus, but I do this by assigning quizzes several times a week or grabbing from my gold and green books. Does that help? I am not in the best "posting" mind today!

I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts. I will simply add how and what we do for reference ... Studied dictation is more of a Charlotte Mason method, and as such, you should browse through the dictation sections on the CM sites (a good Google will get you there). Simply Spelling uses studied dictation, and it includes the how-tos as well. I use this, and love it. Not only are common word spellings kept visible, but new and more complex words are introduced. In addition, the student is studying sentence structure as well. I read the sentence(s) aloud, and my daughter then translates to paper with appropriate spelling and grammar. She spends no more than 10 to 15 minutes 4 days a week with her passage. Grading errors is the most difficult part. I count the grammar and words. From there I deduct a point for what is incorrect or missing. I will be using this method through high school. We started in the 5th grade. You could start as early as the 3rd grade with Simply Spelling. I prefer the studied dictation method for the OPs very reasons. I am also able to omit quizzing on grammar and spelling word lists! I consider this a win-win for everyone.

The only reason that Killgallon worked so well in our lessons is because we were using R&S. I believe that the grammar should come first. If they, the student, can diagram well, then you can gain benefit instead of aggravation from the Killgallon workbooks. We moved from R&S 5 to Journey Through Grammarland with Elementary Diagramming to change things up, but the focus is on the parts of speech and to the mastery of identification. My history is for reference. What are you using for the POS? diagramming? Sentence development and structure before the parts is like trying to make a chicken from a chicken without mapping the DNA! :)

Phonics Pathways ... http://cathyduffyreviews.com/phonics_reading/phonics-pathways.htm (I cannot link for some strange odd reason. I will figure that out later.) This is a very complete program. It is multisensory, and as such, it does not have a lot of writing. Yes, you need the TM. However, you do not need to spend time preparing. I open up and start the lesson. There is lots of room to add or omit as you decide it is needed. I do not use the second set of reading books or the second workbook. I did purchase the workbook for reading comprehension. I do not think that you absolutely need this one at the first level. A draw back for some may be the black and white presentation. There is no color. I do allow my little drama queen to color in her books. This means that I cannot recycle the materials, but the cost was such that I do not feel that I will be losing more than we gain. We write in the workbooks as well. 1 set of books 1 TM for 3 sets of books (you do not need to purchase a TM for each set) 1 composition notebook or manuscript paper to practice writing new words I purchased from the Christian Bookstore, but Amazon, Rainbow Resource, etc. All have the parts. Questions? Just give me a shout. You have to be persistent. I tend to get lost in the next project (as you can tell by my lack of blog updates! LOL) Have a great holiday!

I have tried, with three 10 years a part, a variety of methods. My favorites are the folder method and the event method. For an event, we purchased timeline sheets and added our timelinefigures (purchased ;) ) to cover the event as well as wrote in specific dates, i.e. the Civil War or the Egyptians. Now, the folder method requires you to date the folder and add continent sheets for the placement of the events/figures. The folder method is not so much concentrated on a line but rather a collection of events and figures. I have used a very detailed folder method and a very liberal folder method. What is nice about the folders would be the ability to look geographically at the events. What is nice about the events would be to view the linear chronology of the event. I never liked the book method or the wall method. HTH :)

Amongst all of this, the age is a factor, but you never mentioned what you are using now for studies. I would suggest a more focused Charlotte Mason method for everything but Math. Honestly, it's the freedom that they need. My dd is doing Early Moderns for the year, just as an example, and she will research and outline her way through the time period. I will provide an essay question every so often for testing (important to develop this type of testing for college) and allow her only her notebook (really a binder). I even drop her off at the library, letting the librarian know of course, and allow her to completely study and research on her own. She has rules and follows them so that she does not lose her freedoms. This sounds like she is challenging for space. It is time to give her some. We have to let them grow up too. Homeschool often ends up being very confining. Find ways to let her be independent and experience things safely. It may not work for you, and things may be worse than perceived in text, but I hope it helps you some to know you are not alone. They all go through something like this.