My twelve-year-old and six-year-old are both doing SOTW together this year. My older son is using Sonlight Core 6 and is supposed to read SOTW to his younger brother (though he often won't and I end up reading it to both of them together--we still have problems getting my older boy to do any of his work on his own) every time it is assigned. He then goes on to do the remaining assignments in the core while I go over the SOTW Study Guide with my younger son. If you aren't interested in spending much on an additional program, you may still want to look over Sonlight Core 6 to see which books are added in. You may be able to get them from the library and choose what works best for your family. By doing both programs at once, I am supposed to be saving time (when older brother actually reads to younger brother), and both boys will cover the first two books of SOTW together this year, and the next two books next year. This leaves us free to do a year or two of American History or whatever else the next year or two. ETA: My ten-year-old always sneaks into the room to listen in as well. He especially loves the read-alouds from Sonlight Core 6. I'm not sure those would be best with a nine-year-old, but you could choose books to read aloud that all three children would enjoy (or at least the older two together for additional history beyond SOTW). Just another thought.... Best wishes choosing the best options for your children.

My kids become extremely frustrated when I interrupt them to correct them also. Interruptions at our house are even more frustrating because I work with several children at the same time. This also makes it difficult for me to catch everyone's errors as they write the first time. Our solution: I let them write the dictation without interruption. Then I give immediate feedback and edit it with them. They then correct it as copy work. If it is correct the first time, they do not have to re-write it, so they are motivated to get it right the first time.

Hmmm.... We are using the Math Without Borders CD along with Foerster's Algebra II/Trig book. I'm not sure if there is a CD to go with Calculus. I like Khan Academy also, but it does take some hunting to line up topics. Perhaps a used Chalkdust video, Teaching Company, or library resource would help? Does he have a friend taking the same course that might be able to help explain things? Sometimes that helps, too. Good luck!

You can use the Teacher's Guide, but if you are looking for a less expensive option, you may want to be aware that the 1969 version of The Writing Road to Reading (written and edited by Mrs. Spalding herself) actually recommended using whatever competent grammar text you like. Just work your way through the book using Spalding methods to introduce the material. Incorporate your child's spelling words into the example sentences you use to teach whatever concept you are introducing or enforcing in your lesson. To teach writing, you can have your child practice writing sentences with their spelling words and require him to include adjectives, or adverbs, or direct objects, or whatever else you may be studying. I have found that with Spalding, grammar and writing are taught closely together as one lesson. Of course, you could pull from some other writing text as well. I like to use Easy Grammar, Growing With Grammar, Writing Strands (although this doesn't break down the writing process as much as Spalding), Writing With Ease, and sometimes I like to use Evan Moor's Six Trait Writing. I have seen Easy Grammar and Six Trait Writing used in a public school system that used Spalding and was known for its well-educated students. I will say that I believe the Teacher's Guides are great, but they are new and expensive. I pull in other resources because my time is limited. Although I combine my kids where I can, I just can't put in the time to teach four different grade levels of Spalding every day. The other resources are less time consuming for me but still allow my children to progress. Although I haven't found the Spalding forum very helpful because they mostly quote back to you out of The Writing Road to Reading, someone from Spalding Education International may be able to clarify some of this for you. I've found that (for me) I have to remember to simplify or I go nuts trying to do everything the Spalding way. I have to remember that it really isn't as complicated as the book makes it sound. Best Wishes!

Hi! Welcome to homeschooling! I have been homeschooling for about three years now, and we thought we had figured out what worked for us, but this year two of my boys are really fighting me, too. My fifth grader and my seventh grader just don't want to do school. I think it must be a boy thing. It took us a while to adjust to being home. It will come, but it may take time. I don't really have advice for you, but I want you to know you are not alone. ETA: There were many days I just wanted to send all of them back to school. In fact, I did that for one semester, and although I enjoyed the break, it wasn't the best thing for them. I think if we had stuck it out, we might have settled in faster. You'll know (or figure out) what's best for your children as you go.

I also use The Writing Road to Reading. Reading for Spelling: Sound out the words and pronounce them with the spelling or phonetic pronunciation so that the child can remember how to spell them. Reading for Reading: Pronounce each word as you would say it in normal speech for the part of the world in which you live. A person in the Southern United States might pronounce a word for reading differently than someone in the Northern States, or the Southwest, or even in Australia. Does that make sense? By pronouncing the word for reading in the way your child hears it in every day speech, you are helping him make the connection of the normal pronunciation to the way the word is spelled. Children are not confused by this. On the contrary, they usually delight that they are smart enough to spell the word even though it sounds different in normal speech. On a side note, as a child, I attended a school that taught Spalding and in first grade, "y" was taught with four sounds as "y," "ee," "i" (as in sky), and "i" (as in big). In second grade, I was informed that the "ee" sound had been dropped. This was to prevent children from mispelling words that end in "y" such as "baby." We pronounced it with an "i" sound for spelling, but when reading it, we said the "ee." Children's spelling improved because they weren't choosing another ee sound to put at the end of the word. They knew English words did not end in "i" so they had to choose the "y" to say "i" at the end of a word. Later, I found this same logic used in the old McGuffy Readers from the 19th century. Am I making sense? If not, there is a home educator's forum over on Spalding Education International where a moderator and Certified Spalding Instructor might make clear what I just muddled up for you. Spalding does work. Stick with it and you will see results, especially as the spelling words become more difficult. Good Luck!

My daughter was like this, too (and still is at 8 years old now). I ended up letting her piece together a twin-size quilt. I had pre-cut leftover squares sitting around, and she hand-pieced about half of the quilt, and then I taught her to use the sewing machine. It took her a full year, from the time she turned six until she turned seven, and she needed lots of help lining everything up, but it was quite an accomplishment and kept her busy and out of the way. Fortunately, I had a teenager who could help her when I wasn't available. We also made lots of trips to the library. I let her work through her curriculum until we caught up to where she actually had to work at it--sort of. She is still very enthusiastic about school, but because she is now challenged, she is more content (most of the time) to do just one day's assignments each day. Because of her enthusiasm, I started her on piano lessons even though I usually make my kids wait until they are about eight years old. In just two years, she has caught up to her less-than-enthusiastic twelve-year-old brother. She just soars and teaches herself so much. I love it! I also searched for curriculum that would allow her to teach herself. She loves Growing With Grammar and Writing Strands because she generally doesn't have to wait for me to teach her. I just have to be sure to stay up-to-date on grading in case she really goofs and doesn't quite "get it." She can usually figure out Singapore Math, though I try to watch her more carefully there. Horizons was good earlier, and I've looked at Math Mammoth because the instructions and teaching materials are there where she can read it herself. I have also been fortunate that she has older siblings who are more than willing to play math "games" with her for drill on math facts. It doesn't hurt that big brother needs the practice more than she does! I have also had her help tutor her younger brother by doing flashcard drills, games, and such. Lately, she has been sewing clothes for her dolls. Best wishes finding ways to help your daughter stay busy.

Here is another suggestion for you: Have you looked at The Writing Road to Reading? Some of the other spelling programs out there that you seemed to like are spin-offs of it. I like to go to the original source if I can. Once your kids (all ages) learn the basic phonograms and start applying them to spelling words, they suddenly begin to read. It is fantastic! If you can patiently read through the book and figure it out, your kids will benefit. I love also that it is inexpensive--all you really need is paper, pencil, and their minds. Although the newer edition of the book makes it sound like a complete language arts program, all you really need to do (according to older editions edited and written by Mrs. Romalda Spalding herself) is to use their spelling words in example sentences for whatever grammar or writing concept you are trying to teach from your favorite curriculum. Some favorites here at our home include Easy Grammar, Growing With Grammar, Writing With Ease, Writing Strands, Singapore Math (U.S. Edition), and lots of wonderful books, especially Nobel Medal Winners and Honor Books. Best Wishes to you!

We love Singapore here, but have you looked at Math Mammoth? It is similar to Singapore, but with a different teaching approach. Just another idea....

I am not a science person, but I will share our experience. My daughter did Apologia General and Physical Science. She asked me to find something else for Biology, and after looking at our options, she chose Miller and Levine Biology from Prentice Hall. We ordered the Workbook A to go with it. When it arrived (1000 pages!), she said, "I wish I'd gone with Apologia!" She is working her way through it. To finish the book, she will have to do a chapter each week. The vocabulary is difficult, and she has to study it out to really understand the concepts enough to complete the workbook. We are only a few weeks into it, and I am trying to figure out what parts we can skip because there is so much information in the book, and it is too much to do it all. I haven't ordered a lab yet, but want to go with eScience Labs, version 3 Biology. They had great reviews on another forum and skip the dissections that my daughter refuses to do (we'll watch something online instead). Many other independent lab kits are available that could work. I have not looked through the Apologia Biology book since I do not have it, but our past experience with Apologia is that it is very easy to do in a homeschool setting. Best wishes deciding! Perhaps others could give you more information about their experiences.

My husband works in a technical profession that requires constant updating of his skills. If he does not take a training class in six months, he is outdated. His job also requires excellent communication skills, both in writing (email) and in person. His high school background in speech and debate (logic and rhetoric) have been necessary to keep his job. His experience learning a foreign language kept him open to the people of many cultural backgrounds that he must deal with in his career. My own background was "Traditional" and "Back-to-the-Basics" in public school. My children had the same thing until we moved to an area where the schools focused more on a modern education. After one semester, their test scores dropped by a full year. We now homeschool. A solid foundation in the basics and an ability to continue to learn throughout their lives will help them more than learning whatever the latest trend may say they should learn.

I'll agree with Ellie. Give TWRTR a try. You may need to read it several times, and be persistent in oral and written phonogram reviews. Teach spelling rules as you find them in the spelling list. You can get all the materials from Spalding Education International. You may need to click on "Store" and then search through each category. You need TWRTR, the phonogram cards, the pronunciation cd (if you are not familiar with the phonograms and their pronunciations--it does make a difference), and the Assessment Manual. Scroll to the bottom of "Instructional Materials" to find the cards, CD, and Assessment guide. Although I found the kindergarten teacher's guide to be helpful, you really don't need it. Spalding was taught for well over fifty years without all the extras available today. Best wishes!

This may sound odd, but The Writing Road to Reading could be used as a full curriculum. The text itself includes teaching phonics, spelling, grammar, literature/reading comprehension, and writing skills. Recommendations are made for books to read. I know the new (expensive) Teacher's Guides also list history and science selections, and instructions are given in the text to use those for reading lessons. Of course, it is a very teacher-intensive program unless you splurge on the teacher's manual and just follow it each day. Even then, it is a bigger time commitment than other curriculum. For very young students, I would be quite comfortable using TWRTR and adding only math. Anything else we pulled in would be considered an extra bonus. For older students, I would just be sure to choose lots of literature or books. Plenty are listed for you, but you are free to choose others as well. Best Wishes! P.S. To make it easier on myself, I actually just use Sonlight to add in. It doesn't line up exactly, but I save time by having my books ready and allowing my children to share them (i.e., we read aloud together and take turns as instructed--but since we are not in a classroom setting, I read much of it aloud myself, too).

We love it! I posted earlier in this thread about how we have made it work for our family. That said, I think it is a great introduction to basic science concepts, but I spread it out a little longer so we can pull in library books and such.

I use The Writing Road to Reading, and "Reading Lessons" mean understanding text structure: Is a piece of writing a Narrative (story, or fiction, with plot, characters, event, setting, etc.) or is it Informative (to give information, such as History or Science), or is it a combination of both called Informative-Narrative (telling a story that entertains while giving information). Reading also includes comprehension skills like using context clues to figure out unfamiliar words, and understanding what you read. Some people would call it Creative Writing verses Expository Writing. There is a lot more to it than that, but I think that sums up "Reading" as a subject a little bit. Basically, does your student understand what he reads, and how well does he understand it? In high school, we would call a reading class, "Literature." Does that help at all?

I find it interesting that so many of you were less than impressed. May I share my experiences? We got only halfway through Chemistry, using Level 1 and Pre-Level 1 at the same time. The kids didn't like all the writing for the labs, but mixing baking soda and vinegar, and making PH indicator paper out of red cabbage juice were both big hits, as long as they didn't have to write too much. I will also say that all those missing details are in the Teacher's manual, which I would consider necessary for a successful experience with the program (unless you are very informed in science yourself). I also found we were much more successful with Biology. I drew up a schedule, stretching it over a full semester, and coordinating all the reading, labs, and even Cogs (Language only, which we probably won't do again--it was too much), and then we stuck to the schedule. We did Level 1 and Pre-Level 1 at the same time again. I wasn't very impressed with how much they learned until the next year when they wanted to do Shoot, Sprout, Buzz, and Bite from Winter Promise. When we read through the spine of that program, God's Design for Plants, my children were so excited to already understand what we were talking about. "Hey, we learned that last year!" I would suggest the following for a successful year with Real Science 4 Kids: Schedule it out. Take your time. Use the teacher's manual. Let them explore the library for anything related to your studies. Don't feel like you have to do all the writing for the labs. Discuss them verbally, but the program really has too much writing for most children. We also read the textbooks together and aloud. Good Luck! It took us until our second topic to figure out what we needed to do to enjoy the program, and we don't do Real Science 4 Kids every year, though I will probably repeat it soon since my younger kids are now old enough for the more in-depth information in the Level 1 books.

We have used Writing Strands a little bit. My older children didn't like it, but my fourth child absolutely loves it. Of course, she is very enthusiastic about school and anything she can read and figure out herself is perfect for her. I have Reading Strands, and I have read it, but I haven't really sat down and used it as a textbook. It isn't designed that way. The book is intended to teach you how to discuss literature with your children using the Socratic method. My husband loves it because he used to love speech and debate in high school and it fits his personality to ask those kinds of questions all the time. I will admit that it has been a few years since I read it, since we have been using SL for our literature, but sometimes I will ditch the instructor's guide and ask my own questions. If you are comfortable asking your own questions, you may not need the book, but it does give literature and reading suggestions and could be useful if you feel you need a little help and guidance discussing literature with your children. As for Writing Strands, it says to spend a week writing, then take a week off to discuss your reading together. I would imagine this is how the two books work together. I don't recall any real writing assignments from Reading Strands. Writing Strands also looks deceptively simple. We have only used levels 2, 3, and 4 here, and they were too easy for my older children. Now, I am considering having them do the upper levels, as that is where the work becomes challenging. Level 3 is perfect for my enthusiastic eight-year-old, while my ten-year-old struggles with it. Now that our family is learning what does and does not work well for us, and after perusing the books some more, I would even say to finish WWE or some other program through grade 4, 5, or 6 depending on the needs of your child (we like The Writing Road to Reading, but find it very time consuming for me to teach), then use Writing Strands to continue, beginning with Level 3, 4, or even 5 depending on your child's skills. I am currently using Writing Strands to fill in the gaps on days I can't implement Spalding (TWRTR) in full. My children can do Writing Strands independently. I was so convinced Writing Strands was perfect when I began homeschooling my seven children three years ago, but I am learning that it is not a perfect fit for all. I do own the complete set of books since my children range from toddler through high school, so I often look through and re-evaluate. I love to use what I already have whenever it will work for us. This is getting long, and I don't know if it really helps you. Thanks for reading this, and best wishes figuring out what is best for your family.

We use The Writing Road to Reading for phonics, spelling (which also teaches beginning reading skills), and handwriting. I've tried to use it for grammar and writing, but are less successful in those areas because of the teacher time intensity involved. The phonograms and spelling rules are fantastic for phonics lessons, though.

Same question here. I have three writers who could possibly qualify as testers. I found the original thread and sent an email as instructed, but the thread was closed, so I would guess that she is finished accepting testers. Oh, well....

I used to live in AZ. A friend of mine's daughter took orchestra at their local high school. I'm not sure of all the rules, though. You may want to call your local school and find out. I believe they are fairly homeschool friendly, at least according AZ homeschool laws.

Thanks you for all the wonderful suggestions. My sons are not squeamish about dissections, so all your suggestions are wonderful for future use, too. My daughter, of course, will still need chemistry and physics when we finish biology. I am still searching, but leaning toward my original choice of escience labs for biology. I appreciate all the links. Some of them look fantastic. Thanks again!

I am looking for labs to go with my daughter's Biology book. What have you used, and how well did it work for you? She really wants to avoid dissections--would probably fake a sick day if she were in public school--so I was considering eScience labs, http://www.esciencelabs.com/ but they are very pricey and I hesitate. Also, we have the new 2010 Miller/Levine Biology book and the workbook A, and I am finding it difficult to cover everything--35 chapters means a chapter per week, and they are not short chapters. She is struggling with the vocabulary and reading comprehension, her strengths in other subjects. What should I skip, and what should I emphasize as important? I get to do this again in future years with several younger children, but I am not a science major. What are your suggestions? Thanks.

My boys, ages 10 and 12, have done this many times. My younger one needed something fun. I set him to doing drill in the form of a Bingo game. We used ten-sided dice and rolled them to multiply (Zero meant multiply by ten). Find the answer on the game board. I have threatened--no lunch until you finish. Timer didn't work. Nothing seemed to work. Sometimes, I assigned a second worksheet--just needed drill--and that sometimes worked. Keep trying. You are not alone. For us, it wasn't just math, but all written work. Sometimes, I think they just need to outgrow this stage.

I know this is quite late, and you may have already found your answer. The Core book is just the basics of biology, intended for students who are struggling or falling behind or have special needs. The on level book is what most main-stream students use. At least, that is what I gathered from reading through the site. I recently ordered the on level book. and I found it very easy to register as a homeschooler. The process does take a couple of days, though. We ordered the text and the Study Workbook A, as well as the answer key/teacher text for the workbook only. I hope that helps. Best wishes!

Have you looked at Calico Spanish? It is a bit pricey, but I think it is an excellent program if you have the discipline to do it. I also like Getting Started With Spanish. Your children are young enough that they would need your help to do it, but it is a very simple approach that might spark their interest. Of course, Rosetta Stone is good for conversational Spanish. There are many good programs out there. Best wishes finding the approach that works for you.