We used PRTR 1 last year with my DD who turned 8 in June. She was "supposed" to be in 2nd grade last year, but she has struggled with reading. This summer, we had her tested by a PhD child psych, and she confirmed that she is highly ADHD - inattention, not hyperactive. She was in like the 95-99% for girls her age, meeting 8/9 criteria. She also suspected mild dyslexia, though the testing did not confirm that. My daugher tested highly intelligent, and the psych thinks she's been able to compensate somewhat for her disabilites based on that alone. She also said that homeschooling was the best choice we could have made for her, which was a blessing to hear. :D I feel like PRTR has been a struggle. After she mastered the phonogram cards, I would retest them at the beginning of each week and then work on those missed cards daily for that week. Each week, it seemed she missed/forgot different ones. Sometimes it was OO. Sometimes it was EA. It always changed. I think we are about currently halfway through PRTR1, and her spelling does not seem to have improved at all. She scored very low on spelling with the Psych, who said she will likely always be a poor speller (I took that as a challenge! ha! ;) Anyway, with regard to spelling, we would study the missed words, day after day, but for some words, she continues to spell the words according to how they sound, no matter how many times we review the rules (i can't remember specific words, but something like h-o-m for home.) She didn't like singing the rule tunes. Her handwriting is also atrocious. The psych also suspects some SPD issues, and we are going for an eval and possibly starting OT in a couple weeks. I hope that will help with the handwriting and maybe some of the other issues. SOOOO....my question is, should I stick with PRTR? I have the first 3 levels already. Would AAR/AAS be any different since they are similar methods? I'm considering buying AAR 1 for my 6-year old and moving quickly through it with my 8-year old to do some remediation. Try something else altogether?

I should preface this by saying that I usually only buy curricula that essentially includes daily lesson plans and a teacher script (a la Shurley English, etc.).... ...but this is ridiculous! I'm using MPH 3/4 and we're over half through the Diversity unit and I STILL can't figure this thing out. I have everything....HOTS, homework, test, extra notes, teacher's guide, activity books and textbooks. Nothing seems to line up! I don't understand what to do from the teacher's manual. Maybe I just can't get a grasp on the 5E thing, or whatever it is. But unlike singapore math, there are no indicators when to stop in the textbook and do the activity book. The teacher's guide is numbered like 1,1, 1.2, 1.3, etc. (are these supposed to be daily lessons?) but the textbook isn't, and at times, the section headlines don't even match up, so it's very difficult to figure out where to stop/begin. Today takes the cake. We are on Diversity - Animals. In the textbook, it describes four of the animal groups: fish, insects, mammals and birds. In the HOTS/homework book, it asks for five animal groups and shows pictures of amphibians/reptiles, but no insects! I finally find one little blurb on a page in the textbook that says (paraphrased) "These are only 4 of the animal groups. Use your library and the internet to discover more." REALLY?! OK, I get that they can't cover every animal group in one chapter/section, but to then cover topics in the homework that weren't specifically covered in the textbook....this is too much. I give! Am I missing something? I can't spend an hour every day preparing JUST for science. I really wanted to like this curriculum. We are Christians, but want a secular science and I was SOOO hoping this would be for us. I also have a nanny who usually ends up doing some of their subjects with them, and almost exclusively does science with them, so I really can't ask her to spend an hour prepping. Is it impossible to find what I'm looking for? A strong, secular science with a daily lesson plan that can be completed with my multi-level children (4, 2, and K) in about 20 minutes a day with minimal teacher prep. HELP!?

Bump

We used PRTR level 1 and I just bought level 3 for my 8.5 year old. Are we going to be in trouble since I didn't use level 2? We finished level 1 last summer and I backed off on a formal phonics curriculum. I just let him pick books that interest him and had him read 30 minutes a day. He can finish an upper 3rd grade level book in about 2-3 days/sessions. I'm ready to get back to a formal curriculum and I wanted to use PRTR so we can transition to the Latin Road. Has anyone else skipped level 2? Honestly, it's just too expensive to buy, if I can help it. It looks like it may have covered some grammar stuff, but we use Shurley English Level 3, so I hope we'll be OK there. We've also been using Spelling power. Edited for typos made using a tiny phone keyboard.

I've done a search for this and found info here and there, but I'd like to get a review of this curriculum all in one spot. I'm looking at using this next year for my son who will be 8yo/3rd grade (and maybe bring my daughter in - 6yo) and have a few questions: 1. Does each level last for two years? Will this take me through 4th grade, or is it more like Saxon where 3/4 means average 3rd/advanced 4th? Does the TG have a daily schedule? 2. What materials are necessary? If I buy everything (All 5 text/activity, Homework, Higher Order Thinking, teacher's guide, tests, and more notes) I'm looking at $221 on the SM website. I can swallow that if it means I get two years out of it. But, I've found with Singapore Math that there are certain books I could do without. 3. Where's the cheapest place to buy? I think it's fairly new, and a lot of it looks consumable, so I'm not holding out much hope of finding it used. (Anyone??) 4. I saw someone review this curriculum as boring. Do others feel that way? Do they give hands-on experiments to do in the book, or is it mostly a textbook approach? We haven't really done science up to this point. I'm not sure at what age I really NEED a formal science curriculum. If I don't use something like MPH, I may just get a book of experiments and do an experiment once a week or so. I'm just not sure if that's enough. 6. We are Christians, but we want to find secular sources for science and history. Any other suggestions?

I agree, the planning has been a turn-off, but like you said, I truly believe it's going to be a great program (once I get going!) I think my problem is that I'm a perfectionist. Not in a good way. In a do-it-all-or-not-at-all way. I have another thread going about Singapore and someone mentioned they don't do it all. WHAT!? You don't do it all? Why not? What a waste! LOL! ;) So I guess that's my problem. I've always always been a person who does everything everyday, so I can't seem to make myself only do geography on T/Th or writing on M/W. I need a daily routine, and I basically need a teaching script. This is way out of my comfort zone, but I'm willing to make it work.

Tried to send a PM, but your inbox is full. If you see this, please email me! ebrookem (at) gmail.com

I've had TOG Year 1 for nearly 2 years now (purchased 6/2010.) I was so excited to start, but quickly became overwhelmed. I'm used to programs like MFW, Shurley, PRTR, Horizons Math, Saxon, etc. that have daily lesson plans. Tapestry is proving to be a little too teacher intensive to me, but I believe so strongly in it that I want to give it another shot. I have a 2nd, K, 3 year-old, and baby due in july. I plan to do read alouds with everyone and involve the Littles when I can, but mostly I'm just preparing for one LG student. Has anyone been through Year 1 already and made a daily lesson plan? I found the sample Week 20 daily plan on the TOG website, but it would be INVALUABLE to me to find one for the entire year. Thanks so much!

Not sure if rhythm is the right word, but I just got the Singapore Standards 2A textbook, workbook, tests, CWP2 and IP. I bought the HIG on Ebay, but apparently it was destroyed before she could mail it. *sigh* From what I've read here, though, it may not be necessary. Does the HIG provide a daily schedule? I'm totally lost as to what I'm supposed to do daily. I know many people don't like a daily schedule, which is why I used the word "rhythm." Do you teach the chapter in the textbook and then do the corresponding chapter's textbook assignments daily? When/how often do you do the CWP and IP? Usually, I don't do a set number of lessons per day. I have him do 45 minutes of math a day, and if that gets us through 1 lesson, great. If that gets us through 3 lessons, great. To me, that's the advantage of homeschooling....to let him go at his own pace. TIA!

We are finishing up Phonics Road 1 with my 2nd grader (we're doing a week per day.) I can't find PRTR 2 used and I can't afford to buy it new right now. Has anyone switched to another Spalding method program after using PRTR? I have the WRTR book, but I was confused about how to actually implement it, which is why I went with PRTR. Maybe now that I've made it through with the video instruction, I'll have more success with WRTR. Is SWR an in-between? Has anyone else made this switch successfully?

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks!

I've watched DVD 1 twice now, and I can't find where/how the student is supposed to practice letter formation for the lower case letters in weeks 1-2. Are they supposed to be doing that on the divided blueprint sheets? If so, how? Why are the sheets divided? How much are they supposed to practice each letter? If not, what are those blueprint sheets for? I bought this curriculum used, but it appears to be fairly complete (student cards are missing) but should there be a written teacher's manual anywhere? I'm a bit frustrated with having to view and re-view DVDs each time I have a question.

I know! I posted on our local homeschool loop looking for it used, and a lady responded. I kept thinking she was just selling unit 1, and I told her I would rather buy all the units together. Could hardly believe it when she said it included all 4. And, yes, the Loom, too! Now, if I could just figure everything out. It's kind of confusing having all the levels together. I'm having trouble figuring out which part is for my level of student, even with all the color coding.

Because I thought one of the...benefits?...draws?....tenets?...of a Classical Education (or at least ToG) was to learn history chronologically.

Last summer, I found ToG redesigned for $50. Never used. Three of the four units are still in their shrink wrap! A deal I couldn't pass up! So, here it is nearly April, and I still haven't started it. It's a bit intimidating for me. My children are 6, 4 and 2, so my plan was always to do a low level overview, mostly reading stories, maybe doing some of the activities, mostly using just the history, maybe some geography. My problem is, I'm a perfectionist. If I don't start ToG now and get the ancients in, then DS won't get the 4-year rotation in 3 times like he's "SUPPOSED" to by the time he graduates! :tongue_smilie: So, my question is, what should I do next year for 2nd grade? Part of me wants to start ToG 1 now and work through the summer and into the fall until we finish and then start ToG 2. Also, if we do start Yr 1 now, what do I do in two years when my DD is in 1st grade and my DS is in 3rd grade and we're studying Yr 3? Do I start my daughter where my son is? Start her at yr 1 and keep him at Yr 3 (that defeats one of the main benefits of ToG - being able to teach multiple levels at once.) Or something else? WWYD? (I should also confess that I'm a bit of a used curricula-holic. I do have SOTW 1 and the activity book, too. Maybe the easiest thing would be to do that this year and throughout the summer and start ToG 2 next year. But then that bargain will sit on the shelf for the next 3 years! Gasp! :ohmy:)