Did she have difficulty in WWE 1, or did the difficulty begin in WWE 2? If it just started with level 2, maybe you could practice with shorter or more familiar stories. We always had good luck with fairy tales and Bible stories. I would sometimes have the kids tell a bedtime story instead of me for a fun change. My son liked the selections in WWE much more than my daughter. I think it is more interesting to boys, as I have heard this from others, too. My daughter is stubborn, also, so if the selection in WWE looked like she would despise it, I skipped ahead. Have you ever tried narrating pictures? That might help with a visual learner, it would be similar to narrating lfe events, as was mentioned above. My kids both still like doing those, even though they're 9 and 11 now. I think you will get a better idea of the big picture after reading WTM. I always go back there when we are having problems.

Could you let me know the details? Price, etc? Are you selling through the sale board here? I haven't bought anything there, so I don't know how it works. I am interested, though! Thanks!

I'm thinking about using Science Explorer Earth Science next year. I will have a fourth and sixth grader, both good readers. What would I really need to buy for this program? Do I need the teacher's manual, lab manual, guided reading, etc? I'm going to call the 800 # for a catalog, but would love input from those who have btdt!

I have a question about an exercise in R&S English 5 and would appreciate any opinions. The exercise is diagram the following sentence: His last battle is over now. The answer key says that over and now are both adverbs, and they are diagrammed under the verb (is). I understand why now is an adverb here, but I am confused about over. I know that over can be a preposition or an adverb. Since it has no object in this sentence it should be an adverb. However, the meaning of over in this sentence is finished or complete. If I switched the word over to complete, it would be diagrammed as a predicate adjective, wouldn't it? My son doesn't see what adverb question(how, when, where, how often, to what extent) over is answering in this sentence, and neither do I, so I'm not sure what to tell him. Grammar experts, please help!!!

I wouldn't say that it is only for mathy kids. My daughter could not memorize her addition and subtraction facts with Saxon, so we switched to Singapore, because I heard that it taught them differently. She learned them easily with their method. My son is more math oriented and he does well with Singapore, too. It is a different way of approaching some math concepts, so it just depends on what works best for the child. I think the programs you are already using are similar in their approach, if I'm not mistaken. Singapore does have a fair amount of word problems, some of which are challenging. If you take the time to learn the Singapore way to approach the word problems, they are very doable. Especially in the regular books. The most difficult problems we have encountered are in the Intensive Practice books. The method for word problems is really explored in the 3A/B books, so it's a good idea to start using them at or before this level. HTH

My son is in the MP LC I online class this year. It is an interactive format. Your child will need to watch a DVD with the lesson prior to the online chat. The teacher covers material from the DVD and asks the students questions about the material. The kids can all hear each other give answers and recite conjugations or declensions. Sometimes the student types answers in and sometimes they are given orally. Right now there is a competition going on between two sessions of the class on correct recitations. On review days they play pictionary or hangman, etc. My son really enjoys that. I think the class has increased my son's understanding and made Latin more fun.

My dd will be 9 in a couple weeks. She is about 50 in and 50 lb. She is smaller than most kids her age, but our doctor has never been concerned. A well check can't hurt though just to be sure.

We are using R&S English5 this year for grammar. The writing instruction is good, and we started out using that as well, however it is only enough if you use the writing techniques in a couple of other subjects, as well. For example, R&S has lessons on paragraphs and outlining. You would then practice those lessons in history, literature, or science writing. For us the extra writing just wasn't getting done, so we switched to a separate writing program. I really liked the idea of writing and grammar in one, but I just couldn't make it work.

I definitely agree with the suggestions to allow her to read the passage herself and to break the dictations up to the point where they are doable for her. It may be worth looking into an auditory processing disorder, but it is also possible that she is just a very visual learner. Having one child who is visual, I understand your concern about wanting to strengthen the auditory skills for future learning. I would suggest separating that from writing instruction, so she doesn't end up carrying frustration with comprehension over to writing. Perhaps someone who works with APD could also suggest ways to build auditory skills in a visual learner. Personally, I had my son do lots of picture books on tape and eventually chapter books on tape starting at a very young age, less than two. I used "fun reading" books that were very easy to understand. You could try doing a family read aloud of a book that she has already read and enjoyed. HTH and good luck!

If you have a printer with ePrint and the latest update for iPad you can print. You just touch the icon with an arrow(sorry-don't know what it is called) and print is one of the options. Our printer just happened to be dying at the same time the update came out, so we made sure to get the ePrint on the new one.

We love the iPad here. I equally enjoy reading books on the kindle app and the iBooks app. We also get our magazines on the iPad now. We have always had great service with our Apple products, too. When our iMac's hard drive froze, we took it in to the Apple store to see if they could fix it. Dh is pretty good with computers and had tried several things with no effect. They said the hd was dead, but replaced it for free even though we were past warranty by a few months. Luckily, we back up with Time Machine! I don't have any experience with the Android devices other than a couple friends who can't stand their phones.

If so, what is the age or grade range that is appropriate? Do you use this as a main curriculum or more as a review? I see that there are 440 lessons plus quizzes, so I'm assuming it would take three or four years to complete, correct? I checked out the website, but couldn't find all the information I wanted. Thanks!

I'm not sure which type of IEW dress up he was trying to use, but when I just taught my 3rd grader to use the who/which clause I explained to her that she should be able to cover up the clause and still have a complete sentence. Pudewa explains this in the twss DVDs. As far as diagramming, he should be able to eliminate the clause and diagram the remainder of the sentence. That should make it clear that there is no subject. I agree with others, though, it is easy to progress through the units and hold off on certain dress ups if you don't feel your student is ready for them. Or if you don't care for them yourself. The structure and style elements are presented side by side in the materials, but as the teacher you could just cross a style element off the check list and tell your student it's not required. I'm pretty new to IEW, but I'm happy with it so far. It is helping us to move past the summarizing stage and create more interesting sentences.

:iagree: I once read a study guide that suggested reading the books in the order they were written because they increasingly revealed the secrets of Narnia.

I don't have any personal experience with a virtual school, but I certainlly wouldn't look down on anyone for using one or consider it not "real" homeschooling. As long as you are comfortable using the materials they provide, I can't see any problem. If you have a decent library nearby you could always supplement with books on various topics. It sounds like you are going through a stressful time, and this decision would simplify one area for you. As mentioned above you can always change plans if the situation changes. Best of luck!

I would vote to make the dining room a dedicated school room. That's what we have done and it works great for us. Yes, you can see it first thing when you come to the door, but we are a homeschooling family, so that is what you get! People usually love to comment on our school room when they enter our home. My main reason for loving the location is the proximity to the kitchen. I can make a snack, start lunch, or unload the dishwasher with the kids working independently. Even when my kids were quite young I could leave for five minutes or so, while they colored or did Spelling Workout,etc. We started out in a playroom, but it was too big of a distraction. Little sister was playing with her toys, and the atmosphere was just not good for paying attention. That's just our experience. I guess it kind of depends on the personalities of your kids.

We use that system, too. I modified it a bit so that instead of 1-31 we have a four week rotation of Monday - Friday to avoid the weekends for the monthly work. If there are five weeks in a month then we get a break. I guess it's not that we have a huge amount on any one day, but I'm thinking ahead to the future. Thanks for your experience; I have a feeling my kids will not want to lose their favorites, either, now that I think about it.

Another Thank-you for the Kid Stuff Spanish rec! Just what I was looking for. FYI- I ordered from Amazon, and I found a revised edition there that was just published this month.

I'm wondering for how long you have your logic aged students continue to recite memory work from early years? He remembers it easily, but it is starting to stack up! Also, I still have a grammar student, so right now he just recites along with her. As she moves up, I'm wondering if I should start to drop the early stuff for the sake of time. Especially early poems.

Last year we organized our lit reading as genre studies for something different. It was our modern year, but I have to say we had the most fun with fairy tales. We learned the elements of a fairy tale, then after reading some, analyzed them to find the elements. We also talked about fractured fairy tales and how those work. It sounds like you have some good resources lined up already, so it should be fun!

We used FLL/WWE exclusively with ds now in 5th. Dd is on the same track with a little IEW thrown in early since ds is doing it now. I feel ds is definitely on or above grade level with LA. We used the method from WWE to do narrations in history, science, art, and music. We also did some narrations and other writing in response to literature. Last year we did a genre study with a guide book from Scholastic that I guess you could consider writing work, but it was just an extra not a curriculum. The dictations, although tedious, have been very helpful in his writing skill. It has been harder to accomplish those consistently with the second child, and unfortunately it shows. I guess I need to put that on the list of things to improve on!

I just wanted to add that I think Apologia Anatomy and Physiology is more advanced that some of their other books. I am using it with 3rd and 5th this year and it is a lot of information. I think it would be fine for 6th, personally. Especially if you required vocabulary to be written out and some outside research for reports. We are doing it for three quarters of the year, then covering botany in the remaining quarter since that book seems simpler. JMHO, I'm sure some of the other suggestions are great, too.

Right now I have a 5th grade son and 3rd grade daughter. Dd is still working through WWE, but we moved to Rod and Staff 5 for ds this year. I love the grammar, but the writing was not enough for us. The writing lessons are good, but my engineer-minded son needed more explicit direction on how to make his writing more interesting. Just telling him to vary the way he starts each sentence in a paragraph didn't help him. I also had a hard time doing all the outlining in science and history without more guidance. We have started IEW and find it very helpful. I am even having dd start it and just do WWE 2x's a week, because she was ready to move beyond just the narrations. I thought IEW was overwhelming at first, but after watching the DVDs I feel more confident about teaching writing. I also think this is a program that will take us all the way through middle school and prepare us for rhetoric. I think one of the most important things in choosing a writing program is making sure it is one that will work for you and your child. I decided I wanted something that would help me become a better writing teacher, and that is what IEW is doing for us. Hopefully you will get responses from people using some of the other programs and can decide what method will work best for you.

I would say yes, but it does take an effort to keep it that way. Dh and I have known each other since we were eleven. That's only one year older than our oldest child! It seems like a long time when I think of it like that! Anyway, I can definitely get caught up in the kids/homeschooling and dh in work, but we try to take time each week for just the two of us. Sometimes it's a date night, and sometimes to just hang out and talk like we used to before kids.

I see the OP has decided to go ahead with the vaccine. I just wanted to add my story of getting cp as an adult. I was twenty-one and student teaching. It was an absolute nightmare. I was exposed several times as a kid, as I'm the youngest of five, but for whatever reason never got cp. My mom felt so bad that I hadn't had it before, and ironically the vaccine came out a couple months after I got sick. My only concern with not getting the vaccine for younger kids is the shingles problem. It seems more of an issue now that not that many kids are actually getting cp. I know a family that didn't vaccinate, and two of their kids have already had shingles after getting cp earlier in life. I really debated about our kids after my ordeal, because I was worried the vaccine would wear off. We ended up vaccinating, and have now done a booster as well. I guess time will tell if it was the best choice.