Tell me if this sounds crazy. I am set to do HOD Preparing with my ds8 who will be nine and beginning 4th in the fall. I even have the books and he actually prefers to do work independently. My question is I have a ds6 (soon to be 7 in March) who will be on a 2nd / 3rd grade level in the fall. He would probably fit into a HOD Bigger guide. The thing is that I would really love to do MFW ECC with him. It seems like it would suit him better. He would love to do geography and also to have his own thing going on. I am just wondering if this is all doable? Would it be too much? If I stuck with HOD ds7 would be doing his own guide anyways. Could ds9 do enough independently that I would have enough time to make MFW ECC work for ds7 (I know that I would have to tweak a bit b/c of his age)? Thanks.

Here we are plugging our way through Abeka Math. Ds8 is doing 3rd and ds6 is doing 2nd. They balk because it takes so long but other than that they seemed to be making steady progress. Today I give them placement tests for Singapore (ds8 2B and ds6 1B). I realize these are exit exams and I knew the boys are weak in mental math but boy oh boy! Problems they should have known they couldn't recognize and figure them out because they were layed out differently! Ds8 scored 49% and ds6 58%. We added a page a day of MM a few months ago but I went down a grade on that so it seems more of a review of things they already know. It seems a bit like busy work. I'm kind of chicken to just drop Abeka math but maybe that is what I need to do to make sure that they are learning concepts instead of formulas to plug in. I think my ds8 would do ok with a mastery approach. He seems to catch on quickly and doesn't need all the drill & kill (maybe he does lol). My ds6 is still young so I shouldn't be as hesitant to try something else. Where should I go from here?

This looks great. Thanks for posting!

Thanks! Anyone else?

If you use HOD Preparing do you supplement with anything or do you feel it is complete just the way it is? What do you like to add to make it more complete (I guess more WTM'ish)? I am thinking of using this next year with my oldest. You can see below what we are using now. I think we will be switching (next year) to R&S 4 and Saxon 5/4. Thanks.

How about TOOBEEZ? They are like giant tinkertoys and you can make really neat forts to play in. My boys still play with the set they got for Christmas last year. They are great for the imagination.

My friend and I have hotel reservations. Hopefully I remember to get my tickets soon. I am too tired tonight.

This may just be my experience. Both of my sons learned to read with Abeka phonics. Not sure if we love it but it works and is all we know. Anyways, my ds6 started Abeka phonics 2 this year and I started him with AAS 1. It was confusing to both of us. Maybe it wouldn't have been if we had used another phonics program. Abeka uses many special sounds (I could probably recite them in my sleep :D). The spelling "rules" seem to collide with the special sounds. I am finding this problem in using Spelling Power with my ds8 who did fine with Abeka 2 Spelling. Ok, that probably did not help at all. Maybe someone else could better explain this. I will finish out Abeka phonics but I am not sure what I will do with my ds3. I have some time to look around. Good luck.

We bought an Eyeclops a few years ago. Every once in a while the boys get it out. Ours works great. It is a little tricky in that you have to hold it directly on the object at just the right angle to get a clear picture. My ds8 wants a laptop. Luckily my brother replaced his a couple of years ago and he is giving us his old one. My ds6 wants a skateboard.

Just testing.

We finished Tom Sawyer (unabridged) tonight. It took a few weeks but they really seemed to like it.

My boys loved Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince, Little Sir Galahad, and Tom Gillies. Never thought about checking on Amazon. I may give that a shot. Thanks.

So, if you don't like it for the elementary years do you switch for 4th? We have used Abeka and I like it but I heard it is not great for the upper grades. I was thinking of switching next year to Saxon (at least for my oldest).

Someone on here mentioned mothergoosetime.com. We ordered it and my boys all love the crafts and music. It comes with everything you need and my three yo is learning a lot. I know I don't need a curriculum but I found that I didn't have much time to work with him. His brothers take quite a bit of my time while I am schooling them. It is nice to have something I can do with ds3 in just a few minutes all day long. I guess I just needed something easy.

My 3 year loves the SSL CD and walks around singing it all the time :001_smile:.

That is so gross and very cool all at the same time! I hope the lid is tight on that glass jar.

When you are more excited than embarrassed when your boys are standing outside a bathroom stall at Kohls and they are correctly sounding out nap-kin tam-pon!

I just showed my aspie ds8. He said real serious like "so that's why they call it a poop deck?":001_huh:. That drawing is too funny!

That answer is awesome (does anyone say that anymore?). I hope to hear something similar some day.

Well, I took the plunge and the materials arrived today. I can't wait to get started. This week has been SO challenging with my aspie ds8. I am clearing the house tomorrow of anything not on the list. I get so excited just thinking of the changes we are likely to see.

About time I added a sig.

This convention is so much fun. I have went the last two years with one of my good friends. The speakers are just awesome and the curriculum hall is huge. When we leave Saturday afternoon we are exhausted and reenerigized at the same time. Last year I missed a couple of workshops though because they fill up so quickly. There were many more people than the year before. Good idea to plan ahead.

Thanks so much Kelly-----and I love the pictures in your blog!

Hi. I just found out about a Classical Conversations group in our area. They just started last week. I was a little surprised at the cost. It looks like I would have two ds's in Foundations. Is it worth it and how does it fit in with the curriculum you are using at home? We are studying American History with WP this year. Would my boys be in the same class and what would I do for those 4 hours? Sorry for all the questions. I am just curious I guess.

I would be interested as well. My 8yr old ds is totally into computers. He has AS and all he talks about are the different operating systems.