We are using Grade 4 this year. We got the full grade package. We absolutely love the History. We have enjoyed so many great books together. I'm just ok with the LA (Junior Batgirl isn't really at the level of writing they expect you to be at)...I could take it or leave it, but she still wants to do the LA. JB doesn't like the Science (but she isn't a Science fan). She gets annoyed by Justin on the Science DVD. Next year we will do BkSk 5 History and LA and use RS4K for Science. What level are you considering?

I really like Reading Made Easy.

:001_rolleyes: It's so not cool to brag Amy Jo! :thumbdown: :lol:

Now this just makes me jealous. Was that you're intent on posting these? If so...you succeeded. :lol: JK...these are awesome ideas.

I was actually going to PM you this cartoon personally...thought of you right away and knew you could relate, like I can. :lol: Then I decided I should just share it here. Oh, I should clarify...I also don't think you can have too many books. That IS a nonsense question. :001_smile:

I saw this on FB today. :lol: ETA: Why is my attachment so little? If you don't have x-ray vision, click on it.

Oh my...don't get me started. Too late... MCT Grammar Island (the winner for the one and only program that made my kid cry real tears) Logic of English (takes something that shouldn't be so hard and makes it rocket science...while charging a fortune too) Learning Language Arts Through Literature Queens (anything...when will I ever learn??) First Language Lessons Writing with Ease Simply Grammar Primary Language Lessons / Intermediate Language Lessons Christian Light (people assured me you could make this secular...umm..no. How stupid of me to believe it) Phonetic Zoo How to Teach Spelling (I'm still stupid because I still can't figure it out despite multiple tries) Apples & Pears Life of Fred (but we'll still read them...cuz I have them :001_rolleyes: ) Math Mammoth Miquon Making Math Meaningful Right Start History Odyssey Nancy Larson Science Elemental Science I didn't think everyone raves about it. I rarely see anything good said about it. But, it actually worked well for one of my kids. Go figure. :001_smile:

Rainbow Resource, CBD, Amazon... Just type in "Spencerian". HTH

I know I'm late to the party...but click this for the *real* explanation:

:iagree: My niece is in public K and my MIL was telling me that this is a requirement (at least in her school...which is not advanced or anything) before advancing to 1st. I was shocked. I was thinking of all the kids who can barely even read or write 3 letter words...how are they gonna do that? I wondered if it has anything to do with common core...but I didn't ask.

I'm 47 and still nap. :lol: Actually, I would looove to still nap...once in a blue moon I do. When reading this it reminded me of when I was in Kindergarten. We had 1/2 days and had naps on little mats. I think all we ever did was nap, play with the pretend kitchen, and play with a few puzzles. What did we ever learn?? Now in public K they need to write a paragraph in complete sentences. :huh:

You can use regular watercolors, like Crayola. You will be tearing the sheets of paper out, so they don't each need their own pad (although you may want more than one of each pad if you are stocking up for all 3 art levels). Although you could use any tempera paint...I recommend the RAS paints from Jerry's (I see Amazon has them too, but I have not compared prices). They are so nice...vivid, creamy, and thick. I also really like the First impressions Color Art Markers (1st & 2nd grade Level)...Ms. Volin calls them "juicy", and I agree. And the First Impressions Kids Round (and flat) Chubby Paint Brushes for Kids 10 Pack (K Level).

So, maybe nobody here has used the Building Blocks yet. Well, in case anyone...other than atozmom...wants to know :lol:...I got a reply from RS4K answering some questions I had. She thought my plan to use the Focus On books was a good one ("would work beautifully" is actually what she said)...the schedule being what they suggest if you begin in 6th grade, although I will use "Level 1" for the first 3 books and then switch to "Focus On": 6th Chem Level 1 7th Biology Level 1 & Physics Level 1 8th Focus On Geology & Focus On Astronomy If anyone is interested in more samples of Exploring the Building Blocks 5, here are more samples she linked me to: Textbook Lab Book Teacher's Manual BTW, I know the chem book won't last us the full year...so I will probably continue to finish up some science kits we have that we never seem to get around to using. I'm kind of interested in Ellen McHenry's The Elements...but I don't know if that can be used as a supplement...or choosing parts here and there to correspond to RS4K...or if it's a full course and you wouldn't use something else with it. Does anyone know?

Well...here's my 2 cents on this (take it or leave it :lol: ). First: he's 7.5...and 2nd: he's a boy. That right there can be the reason for being a slow writer resulting in fatigue, no matter what the pencil grip. Does HE seem uncomfortable with his grip...does it bother HIM? I ask because my son has a "weird" grip. I didn't really notice it until he was in high school (talk about my being oblivious!). I talked to him about it...showed him "the right way" to hold a pencil (which was MY way...of course my way is the right way...I should think everyone should grip their pencil the way I do ;) ). Well, he didn't like it...it wasn't natural for him...he didn't want to do it my way because it wasn't HIS way. I even bought him a special gripper...but he refused after trying it once. Well, last year, while having one of our monthly meetings with the guide to our school...she started jotting down a note and I noticed her hand...it was the exact same pencil grip as Robin! It kinda blew me away. I mentioned it and she said she's had a lot of comments over the years about it and sometimes is even a little self-conscious about it...but this is how she writes and it's natural and comfortable for her. So, right then I stopped worrying about Robins grip. Guess what?? I just asked him to write something and he held his pencil like me. :001_huh: He said he now has more than one way to hold a pencil...depending on if he's writing or drawing. He said to tell you not to worry about it. :001_smile:

I would definitely get K, 1, and 2 and start from the beginning and all work together. Your 9 year old will have fun with the K level just as well...and my guess is that he wouldn't want to miss out on K - 3 anyway (if you started him with 4).

I had it years ago when we used italic and I never used it...I don't think it's necessary.

Yeah...you REALLY wanted to get answers to your questions, huh? :lol: I'm not sure why I'm even responding...because I don't even school the WTM way (shhh...). But, SOTW 4 has an age range of even up to 8th grade. Not sure if that helps in realizing that (although you may already know that).

I think What's Science All About would be perfect. It has great info and cute illustrations (fyi, there is a section on evolution if I remember). This book is a combined volume of What's Biology All About, What's Chemistry All About, and What's Physics All About. You can search for those titles and have more samples to look at. Amazon has samples too.

OK...in case anyone is interested in me rambling on and trying to figure this out, here goes... Well the samples at Amazon are very good (just keep hitting the Surprise Me feature). As I said, I have Level 1 Chem, Biology, and Physics (now called Focus On). So far, it appears that Grade 5 Building Blocks is taking some of these chapters (from the 3 books I have, plus Geology and Astronomy)...and just, kind of revamping up the wording, I guess. I would assume that the chapters not included will be divided up between all the other BB books (5th-8th). Here's what I mean: The BB 5 Chemistry chapter covers the first 3 chapters (out of 10) of Focus On (FO) Chemistry...with mild tweaking of the chapter and unit titles. BB's first Chemistry chapter seems to be more about the history of chemistry, which isn't covered much in FO. Then BB switches to Biology and covers the first 2 chapters from FO Biology (again adding in another chapter with a little more about the history of Biology), and then jumps to a chapter about viruses, bacteria, and archaea...which I don't see at all in FO. The other topics in FO...photosynthesis, plants, protists, frogs, butterflies, water cycle, etc must be covered in other BB levels (??). Next is the Physics portion of BB. BB takes chapters 1-3 and chapter 10 of FO Physics, this time the chapter and unit titles are exactly the same. I don't have FO Geology or Astronomy to compare...I would assume it will follow the same pattern of taking 3 or 4 chapters for this BB 5 level. Here is an example of the differences between the same topics covered: From BB 5 Physics (from the Conservation chapter): Oil is found in underground rocks and is called crude oil or petroleum. Certain types of rocks, such as sandstone or limestone, are porous and hold oil in reservoirs, which are places where the oil collects and is stored. Porous rocks contain lots of empty spaces, or pores, and when the pores connect to each other, oil can flow through the rock. When these porous rocks are surrounded with nonporous rocks that the oil can't travel through, the oil will accumulate in reservoirs within the porous rock. Oil can be removed from a reservoir by drilling a hole deep into the rock and pumping the oil out. Crude oil is refined into different products, such as gasoline, kerosene, and jet fuel for cars, trucks, planes, and for heating buildings. Petroleum is also used to produce substances such as plastics, waxes, fabrics, and dyes. The chemical potential energy in petroleum fuels is converted into heat, light, mechanical, kinetic, and electrical energy. FO Physics: Oil, coal. and natural gas are found under the ground. Oil can be trapped by certain types of rocks to form pools, also called reservoirs. Oil can be removed from a reservoir by drilling holes deep into the rocks and pumping the oil out. Oil found under the ground is called "crude" oil or petroleum. Petroleum gets turned into fuels for cars, trucks, and planes, It can be turned into other things such as plastics, waxes, fibers, and dyes. I actually think I prefer FO...just stating it simple, especially for a kid like mine who absolutely hates science and feels there is absolutely no need for her to ever learn it (can anyone else relate??). I guess it comes down to either covering a topic at a time and covering maybe a little over 1 topic a year (5 topics in 4 years) , or splitting all 5 topics up over 4 years and covering bits of all of them each year (with more wordy information). Hmmm...decisions, decisions...

We will definitely be doing school too...plus swimming lessons I forgot that we had found the world & USA Carmen Sandiego games at garage sales last summer...thanks for the reminder, we'll have to play those too. BTW, Amazon has the complete series of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego on DVD.

I decided we are using Real Science 4 Kids next year. I just found out that the author has another series now...Exploring the Building Blocks of Science. I'd love to hear if you've used it, especially if you can compare it to the Focus On series. Right now Building Blocks (BB) are available for K - 5th, with 6th & 7th coming this year and 8th in 2016. I already have the original Level 1 Chem, Biology, and Physics (which is now called Focus On Middle School)...but I'm wondering if using the series of BB would be better, since it would seem to cover more from 5th - 8th (it covers all 5 RS4K topics each year and each BB is for a full school year...which was problematic with the Focus On series). FYI: there are good samples at Amazon...I'm trying to compare the 5th grade samples with the books I have. :bigear:

I know you might get sticker shock...but I would look at Sonlight or BookShark (secular Sonlight) (although maybe MFW or Veritas, & piecing together is just as much $$). As for BkSk...don't look at the grade...look at the age range and think of the grade as a "level", not grade. I'd look at Level 2. ETA: And why I would suggest either of these is because you said: What I DO really like is that history, science, and Bible are all sort of related. I work much better with a curriculum that tells me what to do every day. Not me and the kids picking a topic, getting some books, and reading/narrating. Plus I think doing a literature based curriculum with several children at once would be fun and very enjoyable. Just my 2 cents.

When you say "either of these"...I'm assuming you mean either Fix It or Easy Grammar. Well in my opinion, I wouldn't have a 1st grader sit in on the 3rd graders EG book...because the first grader can have their own level. As for sitting in on Fix It, it won't hurt...but I don't know that they will overly enjoy it just sitting and listening to the dialogue between you and the 3rd grader (if this makes any sense). Fix It really starts in 3rd. But, if you are willing to try and tweak it a bit...and do something similar to what I do with a dry erase board (see my blog post)...then I can see the 1st grader enjoying it because they could help label...either marking N above the nouns or, if you have a magnetic dry erase board, they could put a letter N magnet above the nouns they find, etc. Just my thoughts...others may see it differently.

The older had all the stories in one book....but I believe there was much less teacher instruction and little (or possibly none) additional resources in the back of the book. Now each story is separate, has a teacher's manual, and has a student workbook (you can purchase the spiral bound bound wrkbk or print it). You can find some videos on youtube showing reviews of both...I think the new is definitely an improvement...although it will be more costly in the end. Check my blog for my review of the Book 1.

Well, we aren't too far along yet, and JB hadn't had too much grammar before this (her most successful grammar prior to Fix It was The Sentence Family). But, according to Rainbow Resource, Book 1 is for grades 3 - 12. I have been considering adding Daily Grams along with it next year...but I'm unsure (not sure if a little extra is needed with it yet or not). Maybe someone else can better answer your question...