I've loved RightStart for the younger years - builds a great foundation, uses fun games and tells me exactly what to say and teach!

Yes, I should have said 1850 to Modern! Sorry about that. Another advantage to using MFW is that we've covered Early American this year. We started out with TOG, which was a flop here, and then I switched oldest to Hakim and Nat'l geographic American History (Now he is taking a break from Hakim and doing MOH III)... and I've been doing a president study with middle son, so there would be repeat if we go with Notgrass. I do worry I won't like having so many books to use for history. I tried SCM our first year homeschooling and it drove me crazy not having a strong spine. We switched to MOH and LOVED it. (hate she doesn't cover American!) Of course, MFW 1850 to Modern has SOTW as a spine I guess.

I am the worst homeschool curriculum decision maker. I want to try them all! My kids' learning style and interest is different from my own so I have to be so careful with what attracts me bc I know it won't necessarily attract them. This question concerns my 8th grader and 5th grader. I have Notgrass America the Beautiful in hand. I like the writing style and I think it's very interesting. However, it's a history lesson everyday with activities (which I know are optional but we'll need to do at least some to reinforce learning.) And the readers are too easy for my oldest, though probably a good fit for my middle, who will be 5th. I like that MFW has Bible, a little music and missionary stories scheduled in. I'm also planning to use MFW highschool for oldest when he reaches 9th. We do more read alouds than 6 per year so I might have to add to that. Where does the lit come from? The Book Basket list? I want my kids reading lit that coordinates with the time period. Am I going to find what I need in the BOok Basket list or will I have to coordinate my own? Both my kids have more interest in science and oldest will be doing Apologia Physical. Middle son told me he wants to do chemistry next year and that would be covered in MFW but will it be enough to satisfy his interest? I know some people say MFW is light. I looked at the ECC program a few years back and I just knew the repetitive nature would drive me crazy so we didn't do it. I'm ok with light if the important topics are covered. Both boys are more interested in science. I also wish they offered samples of their student sheets so I could see what to expect from that. Part of me feels like this will be our last year to have "fun" together and I want to make the most of that so I keep leaning towards MFW. So WWYD?

Thank you for sharing. It is at times very scary to see where she is and know she is already 3. I know we have a long way to go but I know she has so much more potential with us than in an orphanage!

you should! There are many great agencies to choose to work with and millions of children who need a family!

She turned 3 in january but she is delayed as we expected from being in an orphanage. She has low muscle tone for sure. She has good hand coordiation but she isn't talking at all. She most likely spent most of her day sitting in a crib. Her orphanage was a sad sad place. You can read about that on my blog, too. We've seen her crawl today and are hopeful that she will catch up especially when we get her home around our sons!

A few of you have been following our story and I just wanted to share that we had Gotcha Day today! here is the blog post for any interested. http://chantelleg.blogspot.com/2013/03/meeting-essie.html

Grateful for Grace - I enjoyed your review of Biblioplan. I've been leaning towards it bc we really love MOH but I have the same concerns - MOH not available for year 4 which is where we are for next year and the companion looks like too much for younger students. I'm still trying to decide what to do for next year but for the following year I'm strongly leaning towards Biblioplan bc we can use it with MOH for the youngers.

I have a 4th grader doing RightStart E. He is bright and he "gets" math but he is weak on his multiplication facts (so he will eventually get them but it takes a while) and he is currently in a "I hate math" phase. I'm considering purchasing BA just to give him a break, make math fun again and maybe help him brush up on his facts. Can anyone using it advise me - would this be a good idea? He loves comics and graphic novels so I think it will appeal to him while giving him a boost in confidence maybe plus bring back the love of math.

calandalsmom - if you wouldn't have had rewards at Staples, how much would it have cost for the printing? If you remember, and don't mind sharing! Thanks!

I'm interested bc it's affordable and looks like it might be more interesting to my son. However, I don't want to have to print the whole thing myself. I also like the looks of the younger 1st or 2nd grade LA. Does anyone use this without using their history programs? Their history programs look great but are out of our price range.

SOunds interesting. My youngest son is 1st grade but is not reading well. We've done some American stuff this yean and I'm going to do MFW Adventures with him next year. I'd be happy to look at it now and see if he can read it and see how he likes it!

I will second Spelling WOrkout. The have levels by letter instead of grades so I placed my son where I felt he needed to be. It gets done.

Some of the themed IEW writing books have had similar cards (not in color) that had a picture with the word. My son added new one each week to his ring and was encouraged to use those words in his writing each week. There were several of those that he learned really well - I'm thinking the pictures do make a differene. Marie's words looks like an excellent resource. And your game idea is awesome!

jkl - sounds like you have a good plan!

I have no idea if this will help you but check it out. It's from Guesthollow, totally free and made to coordinate with WP Animal program. Maybe you can use this list to somehow reduce your prep but not have to buy WP?

I think it's a very full curriculum; I'm going to use it next year with my 5th and 8th grade sons. However, I'm not sure I would use it for highschool. There are some good size samples at www.notgrass.com - I suggest you go there and check them out. Notgrass offers a highschool curriculum called Exploring America. Maybe that would give you another option to consider.

My 6 year old son never minds when I get our FLL. It is so gentle that lessons sometimes seem repetitive. However, he has memorized 3 poems and several grammar sentences (A noun is the name of a person, place or thing.) and he hasn't minded it a bit. Definetly gentle.

I just looked at their 5th grade and it does look cute. More decisions! My 4th grade son is finished up Rod & Staff 4 and I was thinking of using IEW's Fix-it for 5th for a change of pace and then go back to Rod & Staff for 6th. Now I'm going to have to ponder some more!

One thing I found to be fun with my 1st grader, if we come across a word he doesn't know I write in on an index card and we find a picture (if possible) of what it is and a short definition. He enjoys going back through these to review his words. But this is very laid back, just something we've done for fun.

Mine is done.

I have ATB in hand and I love it. The lessons are well written and cover a variety of topics about America not just the history. There are lots of great pics in it and assignments at the end of the lessons for writing, literature, mapping, etc. Their are nice samples on the website www.notgrass.com I am going to use this next year with my 5th and 8th grade sons. There are 180 lessons, which is a very full curriculum, and I think you could also spread it over 2 years and use a curriculum like MOH v 3 (and 4 when it comes out!) to get some world history as well. On the next pass through with my youngest, that might just been my plan! The literature selections are on the younger end of the reading range so I will probably substitute different readers from my oldest since he has a high reading level. However, the recommended readers will be perfect for my 5th grader! I've read through several of the lessons myself and they are interesting. I like this much better than Hakim's style.

I am using the English (Grammar) books with 2 of my children this year. I've been pleased with them. We got started late in the year after trying CQLA for 2 months and then KISS grammar that both flopped here. I speak and write well but didn't remember the grammar rules, diagramming, etc. These books have been great!

I did TOG for one quarter and we still had to do a separate LA. You can do the writing but it doesn't teach grammar at all. I couldn't make it work here. I think I maybe could have made it work if there was a co-op available. I borrowed MFW ECC from a friend and wanted to use it with a then 2nd and 5th grader. I just couldn't get over the science seeming weak for my science loving son. And I was afriad that the repetition of those state sheets would drive us all insane! However, I am drawn to MFW and I look at it every year. I am going to use the Adventures program next year for my 2nd grade son, though. I hope we will enjoy it. I have determined that *I* really need a spine for history. If I have a spine, I can add in extra activities, books, etc. Our favorite history curriculum of all time is MOH! It has a biblical focus, an optional book list, suggests many optional activities for multiple ages and includes worksheets, projects and quizzes if you want them. I just wish Linda would finish up volume 4 and write an American history curriculum!