Great ideas! I'm liking this idea more and more. I think this will be fun. :001_smile:

I've gotten more time to research this after coming home from work. There are several book clubs like this. But, they seem a little pricey. I've started making a nice list of many of the book choices offered at these sites...and I may just end up getting them on Amazon. The reason I wanted to do this is because I know she'd love getting a book in the mail each month; a book she's never heard of before. She would like getting something in the mail, yet she's too old for a lot of the other monthly boxed subscriptions kits that are out there. She loves reading, so I thought it would be a good fit for her. I wouldn't order monthly from Amazon, because this is something our school would order/buy for her (plus I don't have Prime, so I'd either have to pay shipping, or be tempted to buy $35 worth of things each month to get free shipping). But, like I said...I think getting the books from Amazon all at once would be cheaper than the subscriptions. I thought it would be a neat idea to have it come monthly...but maybe I'll think of another plan. Maybe I won't let her see what books I've chosen/ordered for her, and then maybe make it like a grab bag type thing...for the surprise factor. In fact, I could add in an actual little surprise along with the grab bag book. Hey...I'm brainstorming here as I'm typing this. And it wouldn't have to be monthly, just when she gets done with one she can go on to another. I don't know exactly what I'll end up doing. And, yes, we are using BookShark. This is for extra fun reading. If anyone else is interested though, some monthly book subscriptions that look promising are: The Book Drop, Bluebird Book Subscription, Brilliant Books Monthly, GiftLit, The Lollipop Book Club.

Is there such a thing? I'd like to subscribe to a book club for my daughter who is 12 (13 in October). Are there any book subscriptions where I can choose what books she'll get? If not, wouldn't that be a fabulous idea?? I'd like to get a year subscription...so 12 books. I'd love to be able to choose the 12 books that she'll get. Not that I just choose titles off the top of my head (that's why I'd like a club...cuz I don't always know what books there are to choose from). But, if there was a list they offered, and then I choose the ones I want for her. This would be so awesome, but I don't know that there is such a thing. The closest I found is Just the Right Book. But, she's right on the brink of being either in the Kids group (Newborn-12) and the Teen group (13-17). The kids group might be too young for her...but I hesitate going with the teen group. I do like that you can customize your interest and say what kinds of books you do/don't like. But, I don't get to actually choose the book. I know that's part of the surprise...but I don't have to be surprised, just she does. :001_smile:

I've never heard of Doodle Crate. Thanks...I'll check that out! I'm still open to other ideas.

My daughter is 12 and I know she would love getting something in the mail each month related to art. We've had things that arrive in the mail each month in the past (not art related), such as Little Passports and Magic School Bus Science kits. Well she has really taken off on art, especially sketching and shading. She's made wish lists on Amazon for some pretty pricey art supplies (seriously, how can a pack of special pens or markers cost nearly $200??). So today it dawned on me how much I know she'd love to get something in the mail. Not something for little kids...not something crafty like with glue and glitter. I googled and found these: Smart Art, SketchBox, ArtSnacks, and Creative Art Box. I'm sure there's more, but I ran out of time. I watched videos on youtube and, honestly, none of them really seem worth the money. Have any of you subscribed to any of these? Did you like it or or not? Is there something else out there that I'm missing? Time is limited for me each day (in fact, I have to leave for work in 5 minutes) so I'd love for some help in figuring this out. Thanks!

Thanks for mentioning this, I didn't know about it. I just ordered it. I never was crazy about using the World Book CD Rom. We just started our Notebook pages (we are behind this year) so I'll wait for this book to come and my daughter can use this book instead of the CD ROM. The sample looks good.

I tend to lean going a little lower. Lots of reasons...some depending on how well your child reads. If he's a Barton graduate, was he slow to learning to read and had a hard time? Another reason I like going a bit lower is that the book choices for all levels are so good, we hate to miss out on any of them. We started BkSk last year with my then 5th grader, we did level 4. Loved it. She's in 6th now (she's 12) and we are doing 5. So far again, love it. We just finished reading aloud The House of Sixty Fathers (this was a reader, actually, that she started and dreaded. So I said if I find good reviews for it I want her to read it and not skip it. The reviews were good. She still dreaded it. So I said I'd read it aloud. We both loved it). We are now on to reading aloud The Master Puppeteer...which we are also loving. She recently had Wild Orchid as a reader, which is the story of Mulan. It's another "keeper". Since starting a literature based history (we did one year of Beautiful Feet prior to BkSk), I often think how even though I thought I read a lot as a kid...what on earth was I reading? I never read any of these great books. So, it's been really great for me to. We would have missed out on so much if we didn't do 4 last year (some of her most favorite books have been from level 4 and she still talks about them)...it makes me sad that we never did 3! Where does his interest lie? Maybe type up a book list for each and talk about them with him. You want his first year to be enjoyable for both of you. I'm not sure how level 6 is, but with level 5 there are Notebooking pages (level 4 didn't have this). These are pages for different countries in the Eastern Hemisphere with little things to look up and write about. There might be 4 things on a page with little drawings. It's a great way for kids to kind of do their own research. I have heard a few comments that some people think level 5 is dry (possibly because of the World Book cd rom being the spine...but it doesn't have to be, use what you want). We haven't found it dry at all. It's hard to know what to do, and I'm probably not really helping. I'd hate for me to tell you what I think you should do and then you aren't happy with it. There is a BkSk facebook page that you can join and ask questions, that might be helpful. There aren't many here who use BkSk.

I'm pretty sure when we did it it was a pick and choose what you want and in any order that you want to do it. He has different options now than when we used it, so that may be different, depending on what option you buy. We had a 3 year subscription (which I don't think is available anymore) and it included everything, including the Mini Marshmallow lessons...which is a nice place to start. HTH

I'd say use the WG, since you already have it. We are using it, along with Fix It Grammar (not that you need both, we just like them both). I haven't used AG or JAG, so I can't speak from personal experience...but I did get to preview both (a friend was selling hers). I hate to say anything bad, because there are many people here who rave about it. But...I would say only pick JAG/AG if you really (and I mean REALLY) want to do a lot of diagramming. It's very heavy on diagramming (I personally feel it's a bit overkill on it...but that's just ME).

He explains everything step-by-step and makes it very easy. Your kids (and you) will do fine.

Is the sample really of this "illustrated" version? There are no pictures in the sample, and the reading looks a bit much (to me at least).

I was thinking more about this. :001_smile: Over the years I have heard some people say Schtr for Str. As an example, I say: Street, Strong, Stream. But I've heard people say: Schtreet, Schtrong, Schtream (or maybe it would be written as Shtreet, Shtrong, Shtream, I don't know...they say shh before the T). I've always thought that was odd. I thought they were saying it wrong...it honestly still sounds wrong to me...but maybe it's a regional thing, I don't know. Maybe it's kind of the same thing...like saying chr for tr. Just last night my husband was watching something on youtube that had Michelle Obama speaking and she said Shtrong. That's when I remembered about all of this. Language is so complex...and interesting.

:lurk5: I'm interested in this too (I know to some of you that must be a shocker :lol: ). I know someone who has used Game Academy and I'm pretty sure she liked it. I'm thinking of trying HomeSchool with MineCraft. The price for each class is pretty good, it's self-paced (a huge plus for us), and I don't think I have to buy Minecraft for on our desktop but you just use their server. They have a ton of classes...Dr. Who, Carmen Sandiego, Magic School Bus, American Girl, Story of the World, etc. I was pretty impressed with their selections. Has anyone tried either of these sites?? OP, which site were you asking about (maybe there are other ones??)? ETA: Apparently I misunderstood the part In gray up above. :001_smile:

This thread kind of blew my mind because I never knew people said chr for tr. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that. It's almost mind boggling to me. :lol: Again...my name starts with Tr so this is kind of fascinating to me. :001_smile:

My name is Tracy. To me, Tr and Chr are different...yes, very very close, especially if you say my name fast...but they are different. My name is Tracy, not Chracy. :001_smile:

Right Track Reading (and Back on the Right Track) use tiles. But you make them. She explains exactly how. You get bathroom tiles from a place like Menards. They make wonderful letter tiles...nice and cool to the touch. ETA: Here is a little more info about the tiles, called Sound Tiles. And here's a page that shows pictures.

I forgot I had posted this! :rolleyes: Thank you all for your suggestions. I've got some comparing to do.

I've never heard of this before. What ages is this recommended for, what all is needed, where do you buy it, and anything else you want to tell me? :lol: I know I should just research this on my own, but I'm heading to work in a half an hour and feel I never I have time to sit and look at stuff anymore. Thanks!

Interesting. I have to admit I've never even heard of these (I'm a bit behind when it comes to modern technology, :lol: ). Any particular links?? It doesn't have to play DVD's (just thought it would be a nice bonus). Just something that can get on the internet would be nice.

I'm actually using it with Fix It. Awhile back I did a blog post about Fix It and using the Winston Grammar cards with it. We still like Fix It, but it does seem a bit light. So this year I'm using it along with Winston. Working well so far.

I know nothing about laptops. I just need a basic one that's gonna last for quite awhile. It doesn't need a lot of bells or whistles...If it can play dvd's that would be nice, but I guess not necessary. I don't know if I should look for one at Walmart or order one from Amazon. Does anyone have any recommendations?? If there are any to stay away from, I'd like to know that too. Thanks!

I hope you all enjoy it! I wanted to mention that I don't have my daughter "build" with the cards for each and every sentence. She'll do the first sentence of the lesson with the cards. If she has no problems and gets it, then she'll just mark the rest of the sentences in pencil without using the cards. Then when she's done I have her pick out a couple of her favorite sentences to build for me. Maybe this is why I feel we have no problems going through an entire lesson in one sitting, which is why I feel we need the supplemental workbook.

If you want them to each "build" their own sentences, then you might want an extra set of cards. In the beginning there will be enough cards in just one pack for both of them. But as the sentences progress you may run out of cards if you have 1 set. But you could solve that problem by them taking turns building the sentences. So, I guess it's up to you. They definitely will need their own workbook. I use the supplemental workbook every other day. There are not many sentences per lesson in the basic workbook and I don't think it gives enough practice...but that's jmo. My daughter does one entire lesson in the basic workbook one day and the next day does the entire lesson in the supplemental workbook. ETA : I said we do an entire lesson a day, I should correct that...we did an entire "worksheet" per day. A worksheet has numbered sentences, with only a few sentences per lesson. A worksheet is basically the entire weeks worth of lessons. We could easily do the entire worksheet in one day. That's why I also used the supplemental workbook.

We have level 5, but haven't started it yet (finishing up something else first). From what I see, I really like it. I had asked about it here, almost exactly a year ago. The information I came up with might be helpful. Here's that post.

We use the history and love it. The website says the word "grade" (it initially was marketed to public schools), but if you look at the upper right corner it has a number. Think of it as "level" not grade. Each level has an age range of 3 - 4 years. Example: Level 2 says it's for ages 7 - 9, Level 3 if for ages 8 - 11. I just wanted to point this out in case someone reads this and doesn't even look at BkSk because they thinks it's individual grade levels.