If you have experience with these programs, what do you like or dislike? Can you compare them? Is there another program I am missing? Is there going to be a WP written for after the middle ages? I am looking for a multi-level history/lit program, that is a little lighter than TOG. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I am just not doing it justice right now, with 5 kids in K-6th.

I am wondering if anyone has used these to supplement math instruction in the early years. Here is the link for the Fractions one - http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Fractions+and+Mixed+Numbers+DVD+Volume+2/045534/1288801174-286880 If you have used it, how? Did it help? Oops, I spelled Mosely incorrectly in the thread title!

Yes - my DD11 is just starting WWE3. I fast-tracked the last half of WWE2 for her up until now. I am not sure how it is going to go. I am hoping to do this double-time as well. Yes - my DS9 is just starting WWE2, after going through the last half of WWE1 at double speed. I will continue doing WWE2 quickly - 2 weeks worth of WWE2 in one calendar week. My twin DSs8, are just starting WWE1, and we are doing it double-time. I do think that WWE3 jumps in difficulty. Your child is expected to read the passages for themselves, and they are longer. The narrations are expected to be more concise and the dictations are longer. We do have a little more trouble with the dictations and I am working to get my children to hold more information in at a time, but for some reason, it just seems to fall out.:tongue_smilie:I am considering going back to a more CM style of studied dictation with my DD11, if things do not improve. A little while ago there was a link on this board for a You Tube demonstration of SWB doing dictation with her son. Hopefully someone will post it here, or you could do a search for it. It helped me understand her method of dictation. It also helped me realize that it is not easy.

Intervention covers phonics, spelling, vocab and reading comprehension. I may have my DD11 complete it next year, if I still feel like she needs more work. She was a late reader and is not a great speller. I think it is more for a child that is 4th or 5th grade and older. I think that Saxon Phonics K is really just a letter-sound recognition program, along with beginning words. I'm skipping it in favor of OPGTTR and Phonics Pathways. I think that if your child is already past that stage, you could do Phonics 1. Here is the link for the Saxon Phonics 1 Teachers Manual Table of Contents - http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product_slideshow?sku=75323&actual_sku=75323&slide=1. It also has sample lessons to look through. I love that it is scripted and thorough and I don't have to do any kind of planning. As to your last question, I believe that it will help with spelling, but I am a new user, hopefully someone else will answer that question. I sure hope it will.

I am using Saxon Phonics 2 with four of my children - DD11, DS9 and twins DSs8. I decided that this year I needed to spend the time to make sure there were not any phonics gaps and to improve everyone's spelling. I wanted a program that covers everything quickly in the space of a year. We are only on Lesson 16 out of 140ish, and it moves very quickly, with tons of review each day. For example, it covers both sounds of th in one lesson(day), then moves on. You review everything all the time and the lessons tell you when to retire cards - similar to AAS. I make it fun, and the kids are really enjoying the 'classroom' feel. I make them put their hands up to answer questions and when reviewing, I go around the room, just like a classroom would. It is easy for them right now, and it may be all the way through, but I know in the end, we will have covered everything. I do follow the script and I do all of the review. Best of all, my DC all look forward to doing Phonics!;) Just a note - I also purchased Saxon Phonics Intervention for my DD11, because I wasn't sure she would want to work with her brothers. Once I received both programs, I compared them and decided that at the end of the year, she would maybe even be further along if she was to do Phonics 2 with the boys. Intervention seems to really be written for a ESL student just starting to learn English. There were some good components, but I felt Phonics 2 was stronger. My youngest son is doing OPGTTR right now, but if Saxon Phonics 1 is as good as 2 seems to be, I will probably do it with him next year. If you have any more questions, I will try to answer them. I know there are a few people on the board that use Saxon Phonics, hopefully they will chime in.

I am trying to find history texts that I can use as the backbone for my history sequences in the logic and then the rhetoric stages. I am looking for a Canadian-based, Christian, sequential text for both stages. Do these exist? Thank you,

Just a note - I purchased the unabridged audiobook of 'Sign of the Beaver' from www.audible.com. My kids listen to the audiobooks as they 'read' sometimes. I find it really helps with their reading to have an occasional book read to them as they read along. Then I find they listen to them over and over after that.

Yah! I have offically decided to say that I unschool science. We have hundreds, if not more, grammar-aged science books on our shelves from library sales that my kids read/look through regularly, and I have decided that until (gasp) sixth grade, that is enough. I also do not do history until third grade and grammar until the fourth grade.

Thank you for your help, Leanna!:)

I am glad that I am on the right track. We did try IEW, last year, but my DD11 said that she didn't like it, and I decided that instead of making her continue, and start to hate writing, we would stop. I may pull IEW out to let her use the 'dress-ups', lists of adverbs and 'sentence openers'. I want to really drill structure this year, so that in the years to come she can think more about style and content when moving to essays. Would you recommend Lost Tools of Writing as well?

Thank you for your response, Leanna. I want to use this book with my DD11, who is in sixth grade. I really want to concentrate on getting her to write amazing paragraphs this year. Will we be able to handle this book if we have not done much for writing in our homeschool? Do you have any tips for using it with an 11YO beginner? We have done copywork and narration, and my daughter will write stories, but I feel like we need to concentrate on structure. I am currently doing Writing Strands 3 with her, because that is where I was told an older beginner should be, but it is not really what I was looking for.

Has anyone used this? If so, how? :bigear:

Thank you for all of your help, and for taking the time to reply to my questions, Aime!

Thank you all for your input. I really like the puzzles that are in MEP, and I have printed out the first six weeks. In reality though, my days are very full with 5 kids in K to 6th Grade, and I am probably kidding myself if I think I am going to use MEP with the TM. I should probably get out my MM (I have the Light Blue Series 1-3) and start on it, maybe adding in the puzzles that would be appropriate. I think my DS5 would rather work independently than wait for me.

My DS5 is totally bored with MUS Primer and does an entire lesson in a day. I have told him to take a break until I figure out what I want to do with him. I love MUS, but I am wondering if I should start him on MEP1 and move through slowly, or maybe Math Mammoth Level 1. I own the light blue levels 1-3, which I have never used. I could always use MUS through the years if he needs some help, since I have Primer-Zeta. Thank you

I was thinking more in full years of MEP, but the way that you have laid this out, Aime, makes so much more sense. Most of all, it feels doable. What are you planning on doing after Zeta/MEP4, Aime? I am unsure as to whether to stick with MUS or move on to TT or Saxon, or onto something else. My DD11 is not that mathematically inclined, but I want to make sure she has what she needs to go to college or university if she chooses. I don't think that I will eliminate the measurement lessons, because I am in Canada and we follow the metric system. I may post this question on a new thread. My DS5 is totally bored with MUS Primer and does an entire lesson in a day. I have told him to take a break until I figure out what I want to do with him. I love MUS, but I am wondering if I should start him on MEP1 and move through slowly, or maybe Math Mammoth Level 1. I own the light blue levels 1-3, which I have never used. I could always use MUS through the years if he needs some help, since I have Primer-Zeta. Thanks for your input! I would also appreciate any other thoughts...

Thank you, Aime. Will you tell me which MEP levels you use with the different MUS levels? Is it right to do Gamma with MEP Level 2? I also have a boy in Delta, and I am wondering if he would do alright in MEP Level 3.

One of my 8YO DSs, is extremely bright. He is very math/science inclined and he gets his schoolwork finished quickly. I am feeling that he needs to be more challenged. He is reading at a late 2nd grade level, and I am fine with that, it is coming along. We are doing MUS Gamma, which I am also happy with, but it is quite easy for him, and of course I am demanding mastery of his times tables as we go. I am wondering if I could add MEP 2. How teacher intensive is it? It is hard to tell from looking at the lesson plans. If you use it, how long do you actually teach? I have 4 other children in the lower grades, so my teaching time is already loaded. The other thing I have to be sensitive about, is his twin. He is not quite as far along as Jacob, and he has other strengths - he is not a math/science guy. I want to keep them at the same level in MUS, but supplement Jacob. I know that at some point Jake will pull away from Josh, but I am not sure it needs to be that obvious in 3rd Grade.

Heather...I have looked at Classical Writing, but I have to admit it intimidates me. I received a mediocre PS education and I am learning alongside my children. Could my DD11 do the Aesop's and Homer for the Older Beginner or would it be too much? She is probably reading at a 5th grade level. I need to teach the structure, but I agree that the structure is meaningless if the content is abysmal.

I can relate! I think I hit burnout with all of the assignments I was doing. I occasionally lurk on The Pub, but I haven't posted in over a year or so. I haven't let my DD take the breaks that are suggested in WS3. Maybe for right now, we will breeze through it and move on to 4. I have been perusing my Rainbow Resources catalog as well, and nothing is really jumping out at me.

I love the way you have broken this down. Now, if I could just find a writing program that would hold my hand through all of the steps you just outlined.:tongue_smilie:

Just to clarify, The Story of Canada is a text-type book along the lines of SOTW. A conversational-style text for Canadian history. It would probably be considered a spine by some.

I really like WWE, we are currently using Levels 1, 2 and 3. I love the copywork, narration and dictation all laid out for me. I feel that my 6th grader needs more. I am using WS3, with her this year, because that is where I was told an older student needs to start. It is moving slowly. Maybe I need to just stick it out.

Thank you for all of the insight! I am using R&S English a year behind, for the grammar instruction. I feel that the writing is too spread out. Maybe I need to look at it again. I am glad that I am not the only one who thinks that finding a writing program that fits your homeschool (you, as well as, your kids) is hard. I know there are good ones out there, or parts of ones that are good. I just wish I didn't have to go searching and spending so much money to try to find the elusive one that fits us. I have looked at MCT and Bravewriter, but I have to be honest, I was a little confused by both. My kids and I really like R&S for grammar, so I will not be looking for grammar instruction, just writing. I will look at them again.

Wow, Hillary...great to 'see' you! You have moved to Florida? What a change from NYC! Is your husband able to work from there? I thought his job was pretty specialized. Are you still scrapping? I haven't touched a thing since last spring, I stepped down from my design teams, we moved and all of my things are still packed. I will go back to it someday, but right now I am pretty consumed with homeschooling. I am using WWE. I guess I am looking for something that is probably non-existent.