My 7 yo does Horizons Math, and we supplement with Math Mammoth. Usually, we have an easy day doing math. If we're introducing a new concept, and I can sense he's getting a bit frustrated, we scale down a bit for that day.

I wish my sons would enjoy snuggling on the couch, reading together. Can I come to your house? :lol: I suppose my youngest will snuggle with me, so I'll take that. I can't quite decide on MCT. Some days I'm "yes" and some days I'm "not sure." If I remember correctly, it's quite an investment for the whole curriculum. You being with 3rd grade, correct?

Another vote for Rod and Staff! It's one of the better English curriculums, in my opinion, and the cost is very reasonable.

:lurk5: I've heard a lot of good things about this curriculum too, but I'm not sold, yet.

I went ahead and downloaded these. $38.00 for all of 1-3 grade supplements isn't a bad deal :)

My two are only 20 months apart and they do Latin, History and Science together. It saves us a lot of time. I'd try to keep them together, if possible.

http://www.funpaperairplanes.com http://www.10paperairplanes.com I'm sure there are a lot of fantastic books, but we've used these for free. :001_smile:

:iagree: You and me both, lol. It would be expensive with 3 kids for us, but it sounds like heaven.

Any MM users that can help? :001_smile:

There's always something, isn't there? My 10 yo chews on the collar of his shirt when he is doing homework or sitting still. I wouldn't care so much, but he's wrecking all of his shirts.

I guess I would correct it. Same as having a piece of spinach in your teeth, right? You'll experience some initial embarrassment, but be thankful in the end. At least, I would be. :)

:iagree: This could have come out of my mouth. I though unit studies and curriculum that crossed ages theoretically sounded great, but I need age specific materials and a teacher's manual for homeschooling to be efficient for us.

I'm looking to supplement Horizons Math with MM. My son is in the second half of the first grade curriculum, and doing well. I look to be starting second grade by winter. Where would you start with MM? I took a look at some of the first grade materials (the samples) and some of the earlier ones look too easy, and some of the pages look to be exactly what he needs. (End of first, beginning of second) What would you download?

Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement! Hopefully the next few years won't be as stressful for picking out materials.

Does anybody else have a habit of second guessing curriculum choices? We'll be settled into a pattern with something we enjoy, and I'll hear about how wonderful something else is, or somebody's awful experience with my current choices, and I'll be wondering if we should switch. I know everyone is trying to do the best by their children, and I just don't want to "miss the boat," you know what I mean? This is my first year homeschooling, so maybe I'll feel more confident with my choices down the road? :confused:

I would think that Spelling Power would be a good choice. I like the fact that you only need the one book, and it doesn't need to be replaced for each grade. My sons appreciate the fact that they don't need to study the "words that they don't get wrong." It's been a good fit with us, so far, and we'll hopefully continue to use it to completion.

We use Beautiful Feet Literature Guides for History. I'm doing all of the activities (except art) for my youngest son, orally. I agree that they can be helpful for bringing up important discussions, but some of the activities can be excessive, especially for younger children.

I keep changing things around. I keep hearing great things about certain types of curriculum, and I keep ordering! Right now I'm waiting on Life of Fred and Song School Latin. :lol: I've also changed Science and History since we started. It's our first year, so I'm trying to find our comfort zone.

I just ordered the whole package today with the Teacher's Manual and the Monkey Match Game. Hopefully there will be something helpful in it? Any extra worksheets, games or anything?

I know this is going to be an unpopular answer, but Apologia elementary science just didn't work for us. I tried to teach it with all the kids at once, and I had a hard time not losing my youngest son or making it too simple for my older ones. Also, my youngest son (7) has scientific interests all over the place, so he got bored with the same subject after a while. "Can we talk about penguins today instead of space?" I think they are fantastic books, but I couldn't figure out a way to implement them to engage each child. I'm doing much better with a grade specific curriculum. We will use them to supplement the BJU Science we are doing now.

We supplement Saxon with LOF once a week with my older son. I also heard that it can stand alone after the first few levels.

I work with my 1st grader all the time, and my 5th and 6th graders work a lot by themselves or with each other. We all do history, Latin, and some science with each other.

I've never used CLE, but after much research, we are using R & S grades 5 and 6, and are really happy with them! Good luck!

My boys (12 & 10) really like Saxon. This is our first year homeschooling, and they both have approached me and told me how much more they enjoy math this year. That said, I'm using Horizons for my youngest until he's in sixth grade. I took a look at Saxon 1, and it seemed too easy for him. I'm been told the series gets much more challenging around 54 or 65.

Just saw you have five boys! I'll think of you when I'm chasing my three around the table. :lol: