My first two thoughts were The Wolves of Willoughby Chase or The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. But some other choices that might be more "grown up" would be Dead Man's Switch and Among the Hidden (this last one is a series, but I have not read beyond the first book yet so I'm hesitant to recommend if I haven't read them).

Here are two fun ideas...one adding a twist to the salt and another using kinetic sand. Peppermint Writing Tray Kinetic Sand Stamping (although you could used a wooden stick to write letters instead of stamping)

It looks like an awesome book! Thank you for sharing!

Since you said he needed something more challenging I was going to suggest Beast Academy...but I see you are already using that with The Professor. Do you think The Artist would be ready for BA, or not? Other than that I'm stumped on what could be challenging, rigorous, and gentle.

Is there a rush to get 6th grade (including Pre-A) done so you can start 7th?? I'm just thinking there's a lot to cover in just one semester (even if it is 24 weeks). Can you just start in Jan or Feb and take the year to do 6th and then in a year from now start 7th? I don't mean to offend in any way....I'm just wondering why the push to get 6th finished so quickly with a 10 year old.

You can use LoF with anything. Some people use it as a fun supplement to any math program...and some use it as their only math program. I was just reading this blog post the other day...they use it as their main math program.

:cheers2: Right back at ya!

Oh, I get it now. LOL! And yeah...it is a bit pricey. The bolded is what I thought when I looked at those samples. Well....ok, I didn't actually think, "This is incredibly technical and far beyond what a non-linguist major in college would need." but I did think, "Holy cow...this looks really complicated and hard." :D ETA: Since the op is looking at just these two books...I voted for Drawing Sentences. I haven't used it to know if it's good, but I'm going on what Monica said. :001_smile:

I didn't vote on the poll...because I wasn't sure what the 3rd option meant, :lol: . I *have* considered other options and here's my suggestion: Grammar Revolution. Elizabeth from GR has short video lessons and then sentences to diagram that you can either print or buy a bound book (I bought the books). She's really helpful if you have any questions...and I like it that she is teaching diagramming and I don't have to try to learn it from a book and then try to teach it. I can't recommend it enough. Get Smart Grammar Through Sentence Diagramming (Grammar Revolution) If you really just want a book to teach diagramming I'd say go with Analytical Grammar...but, personally, I much prefer GR.

:iagree: . Batgirl used MegaWords 1 years ago and I remember she just loved it. It was her favorite thing that year. Not sure why we didn't stick with it and do more levels. I have MW 1 & 2 and think I'm going to start them with JB soon.

:iagree: with Kathy. Ours has a sticker on the back...it wasn't on any plastic wrap. But if yours is different, just give them a call and they'll give you one.

:lol: I did some digging and actually I didn't misremember. It's not how Saxon is meant to be done...but that's what a lot of people do end up doing. You just wanted to totally erase that idea from my brain though, didn't ya? ;)

I can only help you with your very first question. Yes, you need the TM because sometimes you need to read words or sentences (can't remember which or if it's both) from the TM. Sorry I can't help with the rest....just got off of a 10.5 hour work shift and I'm beat.

I have never used Saxon...and sometimes I wonder if I'm missing something by never trying it. But what I wanted to say was...don't you do only every other problem or something?? Or is that a different math program? I thought I remember Saxon being the one that you choose either the odd numbered problems or the even? If this is true..then why are they all there? Do some people do them all? I honestly feel very clueless about this and I'm wondering why I'm even posting about it.... :blush:

:iagree: with this suggestion. I have a bunch of these. We really haven't used them yet...but they look pretty good. Here is a link to the ones at Rainbow Resource.

DVD's are illegal in Canada. Come on....*everybody* knows that! :001_rolleyes: Be careful they don't find out that you own a DVD player. Although now they probably know and you are on some list. I sure hope you get your money back.

Thank you Farrar and Rose...I will look at all the books you've suggested.

These both look really good. I've added them to my list. Thank you!

This book looks really good...thank you for mentioning it. I'm also on the lookout for some good books for my 11 year old daughter. I don't want anything too dark, and I certainly don't want anything with girl/boy crushes in it. I haven't heard of a single one of the books mentioned in this thread. :blink: Sometimes I wonder where I've been....hiding behind a rock or something (or maybe in a cave :huh: ). If anyone else has more suggestions...please share.

I have used many phonics programs over the years (because Robin just couldn't get it :lol: ). Four of my top favorites, in no particular order, are Reading Made Easy, McRuffy, Alphabet Island, and Astronauts to Zippers.

LOL! I love typos. He is a scruffy little dog isn't he? :lol: I actually thinks it's above grade level. We loved the K level. But my daughter couldn't handle the first grade. There is a big leap from K to 1st...not sure what, if any, leap there is between 1st & 2nd. The spelling words are pretty challenging...that's the trouble we had with it. I thought there was a sample page with all the spelling words...but not I'm not seeing it. I wonder if Brian would e-mail it to you if you ask him. Because if the spelling is too challenging the entire level is going to be difficult....the spelling words are used in both the SAP and the LAR worbooks.

:iagree: I remember that and I was going to mention it, but Susie already did. After that happened I, personally, wouldn't even consider using Girls of American History. It's a shame that happened.

...and other prizes from Mark Kistler. Sign up here...drawing ends at midnight December 9th.

We have Color Code and Penguins on Ice. I've never heard of the Shell Game. I just watched a youtube video on it. It looks cute...I'll be adding that now to our list of things to get. :001_smile: If you haven't already checked youtube, you can usually find video reviews on all of these types of games...and some at the website too. My daughter likes both Color Code and Penguins. She blew through a ton of Color Code cards the first day we got it though. I don't know if that game will last overly long. I guess the same could be said about any of these. But...they are fun games. I think the penguins one is really cute. Some of the ice pieces you can shift (slide a piece to make a different shape). It gets challenging fast. I have a review of Color Code on my blog (link is in my signature). If you don't want to scroll through everything, just click on March on the right side. If you can...I'd say get all three!!

You should be able to. It won't dry out or feel nasty. I don't remember if it has a smell. If it does, I don't think it's terrible. A reviewer on Rainbow Resource says they replaced using Play-Doh with the EZ Shape clay.