Yes, I must be misreading the table. I was understanding it that WWE is similar to the grammar program but maybe I'll understand more after I learn more about the program. Thank you for the recommendation for Writing With Ease, The Four Year Guide, I'm going to read that today. I also purchased SWB's audio lecture for elementary nearly 10 years ago and today I'm going to buy the middle and high school lectures as well so I can listen to all three. I'm really looking forward to working through this with my kids, it's definitely a weak area in our homeschool. Due to a move and a major health event, my kids were doing Monarch online the past two years with almost no involvement from me. They did the bare minimum the program had them do and it was all on the computer so nothing was hand written. I hope I can help them become confident writers this late in the game.

Thank you so much, Susan! I'll get level 3 and begin with that. I read HERE that the progressions can go backwards (for example, WWE3 followed by WWE2) so I guess we'll start 3 and see how it goes moving ahead or back as needed. I appreciate your reply!

Can I just jump into level 4 of Writing with Ease? My kids have not done dictation before and I'm not understanding if I need to dial back to WWE 3 or even 2 if this is the case. My kids are age 9-14. From what I'm reading I need to start with at least some WWE before moving to WWS. Also, I'm pretty sure we are going to use Grammar for the Well Trained Mind. I assume this can be used concurrently with WWE? Thanks in advance for any advice!

I would like to buy printable timeline figures to use with Story of the World this year. I was just about to purchase Homeschool in the Woods comprehensive pack with the whole collection when I realized she has a young earth view which is different than my beliefs. I'm wondering if I skip the first few figures, would the rest of the set line up with Story of the World or will I have to cross check all the dates? (I'm not all that familiar with the beliefs of young earth people). Is there a comparable secular or old-earth version available anywhere? Thanks in advance :)

I've been very bad at incorporating writing into our curriculum over the years. My 12 year old balks at even writing a full sentence and feels I've asked him to conquer the world if I ask him to write a paragraph. I've looked at so many writing curriculum choices and I'm intimidated by all of them. What is out there that will hold my hand while at the same time, ease him into writing? I did listen to Susan's audio seminar a few years ago and I'm sure I need to listen again. We tried an online IEW class a couple years ago but he couldn't sit still and focus for that long (I think the class was an hour and a half). I would greatly appreciate any suggestions ?

Thanks for all the info! I didn't realize people had their kids read in bed until 7. I absolutely love that idea! I try and get a few moments to myself in the morning but I've got one and sometimes two kids that get up especially early and talk my ear off while asking for breakfast. I would love to have a designated time that is just mine where I could focus on what I'm doing and that no one wants anything. If you have a rule that school starts at a certain time and you must have breakfast done and be dressed and ready, can you tell me what the consequences are if they aren't ready? We do school downstairs and if one of the kids isn't ready I end up running up and down the stairs a bunch of times, it's really frustrating when I'm trying to work with the other kids.

I'd love to hear how the mornings at your house go. Do the kids get up and dressed before leaving their rooms? Are you up first? Do you start school at a certain time or just whenever the kids get up? Do you have all the kids get up at by a certain time? In our family, the kids used to just bounce out of bed and were ready to begin the day but I've noticed over the past 6 months or so it's gotten to where they just shuffle into the living room and plop on the couch. Somehow our dynamic has changed and I want to fix that. I'm thinking maybe if they got up and get dressed right away that would help. Maybe we need to set an alarm and get up like we did years ago when I had kids in public school? I'm not sure what it is but something needs to change. Any advice?

I didn't know this either! I was going to buy on Amazon, cut the binding, and copy. I love digital versions - so much easier. Thank you!!

Another vote for Singapore Essentials K. I love the simplicity of Essentials and the fact that the instructions are on the bottom of each page so you don't need a teacher's manual. We use that along with c-rods and Miquon. We have used McRuffy as well but that's more time consuming. Lots of pieces and printouts and things.

Lol I didn't know they wrote stuff like that! I'd love to go back and see what they wrote about us. Many times my kids are already outside so they run down to the truck to get the package. Our guy is super nice to them. Which reminds me, I haven't given him a bonus or goodies in a while.

Yes! I feel the same way. CLE is great! I switched my 3rd grader over to Reading and LA and loved it. Then ordered Reading and LA for my 1st grader along with Social Studies for both 1st and 3rd. I've now ordered CLE math for all 3 kids. We also love BFSU which is new to us this year and we continue to enjoy SOTW. I revised my lesson plans and the kids' to-do lists in OneNote from what I was using last year and that's been awesome. Planning our weeks off in advance and looking forward to them instead of waiting until we all felt burnt out and taking a week off has made our homeschool a happier place.

My 3rd grader just started 3rd grade CLE LA yesterday and I feel like it was a good fit. Not that I have a lot of experience yet, but I'm loving it so far :)

I've been reading reviews and it looks like most people think it's worth the cost so I'm considering it. Is it just cartoons though? I'm not sure it would hold my kids' attention if it didn't include real life videos like How It's Made, Popular Mechanics, etc.

I use Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher. We have yearly subscriptions to both. InDesign has a steeper learning curve but it's much more powerful. I don't create many worksheets because it takes me so long to remember how to do things in the software but I like having the options available when I need them.

I got it through HSBC. I saw that it used to be available through g3 and was going to investigate but from what I understand, that was just the standard, not the Plus edition (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). We paid $99 for the year and we absolutely love it. I use it every single day - even on the weekends. I use our ChromeCast to stream it to the TV. Maybe it's the age of the kids but mine get pretty excited about the videos :) I feel like it was well worth the $99.