Ha! We just switched from Saxon to MM and now I'm second guessing :). For me, the reason was mainly because I live overseas and an instant digital download is much easier to get then shipping the big Saxon TMs over here. Really though, I appreciate both methods of instruction and think either way can work fine depending on the teacher and the students.

Thanks! I know my dc are learning a lot and that they love to learn. I like the idea of journaling what we have done after the fact. It's funny how much I have learned about myself (teaching style and personality) from homeschooling.

Thanks. I definitely don't want to add something that isn't really needed. I'm very happy with the way we do dictation, and her narrations are pretty decent. I actually bought WWE 1 when she was in first grade and we ended up not using it at all. It just made more sense to apply the principles to books we were already reading from. I guess I just keep thinking that eventually we will need a "real" writing program to make sure we're on track.

I can't help feeling guilty and like we could be missing something. I do NOT do well with schedules or pre- made lesson plans! It seems like whatever I buy, I end up tweaking entirely or substituting my own ideas instead of using. We started SOTW with AG, but we decided we'd rather just read tons of books about the time period, with narrations and projects kind of randomly thrown in. I was doing Elemental Science, but again we'd rather just read tons of books and discuss! We don't have any "real" reading program, but we do read a LOT (independently and as read alouds) every day. We're finishing up 2nd grade and will soon start 3rd and K (with a newborn in the mix), but I wonder whether we need to add more structure into our school. Math and Language Arts are fine. We have no problem doing every subject consistently every day, its just that I get bored with curriculum for the content subjects. Are we okay with mainly just reading for history, science and literature? At what grade do we need to buckle down for these subjects?

My rising 3rd grader does dictation regularly. I just choose passages from our literature, history and science. I like that the passages line up with what we are reading that day. However, I don't try to tie in any of the specific grammar we are working on (in R&S) or look for specific types of writing. Mostly, I just pick something that is beautiful writing or reinforces the concepts we are learning in our content subjects. I can't decide whether using WWE 3 would add anything to our writing. We also do written narrations a couple of times a week, and I'm planning on adding more free writing. Any opinions? Thanks!

Thanks for the helpful replies! I don't mind changing up our history and science since we won't lose much by skipping around a bit in those subjects. I know I could do SOTW as audio, but I've already bought tons of supplemental books and things that I'd like to use along with it. I'm mostly concerned about math and language arts. I like the suggestion to start alternating some MEP with our Saxon now and get used to it slowly. Its SUCH a different methodology and format, that will be an adjustment. I've never been fully convinced by AO's rec to save grammar for later years. It sounds very simple and nice to just do focused copy work (and discuss some relevant grammar topics within the passage), but it makes me nervous to not be "on schedule" progressing through our R&S books. We will continue with Latin (one subject I hadn't purchased yet so I'll just get in the US), and that also includes some grammar.

We live overseas and it has taken me a lot of maneuvering to get all of our next year's curriculum over to where we are. Its pretty much all WTM recs and we enjoy all the choices. However, it turns out that we will unexpectedly be going back to the US for 8 months to have a baby and do some other work. There is no way I'm bringing all these books there now that I've finally gotten them to HERE. My plan is to shelve them all for when we return next March and do other things for the time being. I have a dd who will be in 3rd, and my ds will do K. I'm considering doing straight AO for the duration, even using MEP for our math. Now, we're coming from Saxon and a very strong classical approach. Am I crazy to think we should "switch" methods so entirely for a while? Has anyone else done something similar? I have always been drawn to AO and CM methods, but also feel strongly about classical.

Well, I did buy the SOTW AG's, but I'm assuming that's not what we are talking about here. I agree with some others that a full-on curriculum won't work for us because I DON'T like following a schedule. I like the freedom to go at our pace and change things up whenever I feel like it. Granted, my oldest is going into 3rd grade. I can imagine using something like TOG for the later years (although it would still pain me to be told by someone else what books to read when, etc.) For now, I would rather spend my money on books and resources than schedules and lesson plans. I think it is such a personality (and budget) thing. I don't really spend any time lesson planning, so it wouldn't save me time.

We use and love Artistic Pursuits, but I didn't start it until 1st grade. Until then, we used projects from the Usborne Art Treasury and subscribed to Mark Kistler online Draw Squad. My dc are very artistic and I feel like they benefited a lot from both resources. Even when my ds was 4, his 3D drawing was impressive. I attribute that to Kistler :001_smile: .

Om-kas-toe by Kenneth Thomasma is a FAVORITE here!

My kids enjoy them, but I pretty much agree with you. They are a lot of coloring, cutting and stapling for what you get. Usually each section comes with a few pages of information that you read together, and then several small "activities" or worksheets. My favorite so far has been the Native American one, because it goes more in depth about each group than the other resources we were using. The pilgrim one and the Ancient History one didn't really add any new information that we hadn't already covered in our books.

Saxon Phonics 1 Saxon Math 1 HWOT 1 SOTW ES Chemistry (but we'll also do a lot of age level science projects and books, too) Artistic Pursuits 2 + read alouds, memory work, Bible, track and field

I did start assigning more writing with R&S grammar lately. We had been doing it all orally, but now I try to find what I think is the most beneficial exercise for her to write out. I only have her write the ones that need full sentences, so she never writes the answers if its just something like "find the verb in each sentence and copy it onto your paper." Right now we're in the section on paragraphs, and I consider these exercises very important to actually write out.

Does TOG schedule readings from SOTW most weeks? I assume that the chapters would be read out of order, but is SOTW still used? Thanks!

:iagree: It's working well for us here. I have grades 2 & 3, and I'm pleased with the progression of writing instruction as well. We do add copywork and dictation on top of it.

Well, we've lived in China for almost 5 years, and are still far from fluent! My dc struggle through simple conversations beyond their name, age and other easy topics. My dd has had 2-3 hours/ week with a tutor for 4 years now. My ds just started 2 years ago. My plan is to keep on with the play based tutoring, which is all listening & speaking, for another 2 years. Then, we will transition into Pinyin and characters and they will have a tutor every day for an hour. Its just a hard language! I'm sure my perspective is skewed because of living here and having to converse in it daily, but imo, something like Spanish would be much quicker to master for native English speakers.

Well, I'll be adding in a Ker! We are in a similar spot, my ds has joined in with Intro, ESA and biology. I won't require any of the written components, but he'll listen to the readings and participate in the experiments.

I don't know about PAL but Saxon Phonics is working well for my ds. He seems to thrive on the repetitiveness of the lessons and is progressing well. I'm not sure that he is necessarily sensory seeking, but he is pretty hands-on and active. The lessons usually begin with some activity including a ball or marching around saying the alphabet, and he likes doing those. He also likes the game suggestions. There is one game where you put big letters in rows on the floor, call out a word, and he jumps to the right letters to spell out the word. He seriously LOVES this game! I'm relieved because while OPGTR worked wonders with my dd, my ds cried over it every day. Saxon Phonics seems to fit the bill for this kid.

I bought the kit and am glad that I did because we are continuing on with Saxon. At the least, I would purchase the pattern blocks and linking cubes. Actually, I wouldn't recommend the balance because it is the most expensive item and is hardly ever used. Its also a pain to store.

Yes, please, please, please bring it back! I actually didn't even get on the forum for the last couple days because I didn't feel like bothering with it when I can't preview the threads. It really makes a world of difference!

I really liked that before I could just hover over a thread and read the first sentence or so of the first post. It was nice to get the glimpse and decide whether I wanted to open it or not. I'm missing that feature!

No! I can't! I know because we DO live overseas and believe me it is terrible trying to just GET the stuff here. We have kindles and an iPad, but there are so many other physical things that you just need. What about all the wonderful history encyclopedias, science books, picture books that give a visual insight into what you are learning? Then there are art supplies (where we live didn't even sell crayons until recently), paper, binders (still can't get those here), math manipulatives, etc. I don't want to just park my dc in front of a computer screen all day for every subject, I want them to savor the experience of real books. I think that having actual books is very important for the younger years. If you were willing to use the internet for most subjects, you could possibly accomplish it. Ok, that little rant relieves some of my stress about this :). I've been trying to figure out how to get some more books here soon and so this subject has definitely been on my mind.

I feel like we're in a good groove. I was looking through a hs catalogue with dd the other day and casually asked if she would like to do history "that way", to which she replied "NO! Don't change ANY of it. I LOVE history and science the way we do them (WTM) and don't want to change a thing!" Yay! I've also realized that I do much better if I just forget about the clock. Seriously, when I feel rushed, my attitude becomes crummy and I turn impatient. If I just let ourselves move at a good, natural pace and finish when we're done instead of at the time I had planned in my mind, then our whole morning goes better.

:iagree:This is my kids, too. From time to time I feel guilty about not doing the projects in the SOTW AG, but my dc are thrilled to just do the coloring page. They frequently act out the stories in their own playtime, or get inspired to make their own crafts, but these are without any direction from me.

My dd is a young 2nd grader. Today she did: 1 page cursive 15 spelling words 5 Latin vocabulary words + definitions 2 pages of math 3 sentence narration in science 1 sentence dictation 4 short sentences for grammar (probably not helpful to anyone, but it was helpful to me to see it typed out :lol:)