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It worked here for my 6th-8th grader. She was actually able to do much of this on her own. We did not buy the tests. We used the end of chapter review for the tests. This worked fine because there are 2 sets so I could always give the second set if she needed review. We're now moving on to Jacob's Geometry.

My answer was X = (+/- the square root of 18) plus 3 so I just forgot about simplifying the square root of 18 I was going crazy. You guys are the best. Thanks you.

Jacob's algebra chapter 13 lesson 6 problem 9f. The problem is X squared - 6X - 9 = 0 The answer in the back of the book is 3 + 3 times the square root of 2 and 3- 3 times the square root of 2. I figured out all of the other problems but this one has me stumped.

After looking over the 7th grade book, I decided that there was no need to formally study grammar past that book. I also decided that I wasn't spending another $50 on another grammar book. I am having my daughter go through the 1st half of the 7th grade book in 8th grade for review and she will do the second half next year in 9th. She never had any problems with grammar but she couldn't concentrate on other things (writing, higher level math, vocabulary) if I had her spend her time doing another grammar book.

Although my 7th grader is waaaaaay behind in the Sonlight reading. I didn't try to line them up because the IEW American History that we have is a 2 year course so it would not have lined up well. My girls are enjoying both but I think I'll be scrapping Sonlight when the older one is finished because my 7th grader just can't read and retain that much. Angela

if that is what your family needs. In times like these, I decided to take 1-2 morning (or all day) a week and let my younger ones just play and do the things that you mentioned so that I can spend time with the older ones. I feel like I have a small family compared to you though...LOL (only 5).

Almost finished Jacob's Algebra then onto Jacob's geometry (she likes this) Sonlight 100 (she loves this) Rod and Staff English (also great) Rosetta Stone Spanish (no complaints, she hated latin) IEW American History based Writing lessons (no complaints) Apologia Physical science ( she likes this) Introductory Logic (she absolutely loathes this!) Atelier Art 7 (she likes this) Ballet/Pointe 5 times per week guitar lessons

and loving it! Angela

:iagree: I just tested my children to see if they still knew the states because we are in our second rotation. It's been 4 years and they still know them. We used this CD and it is well worth the money. I'm using it now with my k and 4th grader who didn't do it at the time. It works and it's fast! Angela

and I spend way too much on curriculum. For example, my older 2 are doing sonlight 100 and my next 2 are using WP American Crossing (both of them are complete). I did purchase both of these used but I think they were close to $500 between the 2 of them. We are really enjoying both of them and I justify the cost because I will use these things for 5 kids. Plus, I will hopefully be able to resell most of it when we're finished. Another plus is that they are totally complete and I am not always on the hunt. I also figure private school would be a fortune. I also want my children to be challenged in their education but also ENJOY most of what they are doing. Angela

I have 5 children grade 8th, 6/7th, 4th, k, and a 2 1/2 year old active boy. I had to ditch a few of my classical dreams in order to accomplish the main subjects. My oldest daughters are now doing Sonlight 100 and they are both doing Apologia for science. I'm doing IEW American History writing lessons with all 3 of the oldest because I can teach it once a week. I work all day on school and I still don't finish what I would like to. I used to beat myself up but now I know that it is physically impossible to do any more than I am. Don't beat yourself up! I think you are doing great. Angela

because some children are just not ready for algebra by 7th grade. My oldest did fine, my second daughter is doing pre algebra now in 7th grade. I would say that you will know they are ready for algebra when they have thoroughly mastered pre-alg. I would say that there are many of us saxon users that have had to slow down at times. Angela

ditto, we are using this now. I'm not a cut and paste kind of person and I'm even enjoying it. I skip anything I feel is busywork but we do a lot of the projects. Angela

is that is more work for me to have them work independently at the 1st grade level. I then have to correct all of their mistakes later with them and do a lot of "undoing" bad habits etc. For example, when I tell my dd (5 almost 6) to copy something, she inevitably writes some of her letters wrong or skips a letter. She may write a letter as a capital that should have been lowercase or just form the letter incorrectly. It is better for her and me if I just sit and stop her as she is making the mistake. I have 5 children 13-2 . My older children work very independently at this point without too much problem. My advice is that once your children are reading and writing well, start to have them do some work independently (like copy their narations). For now, don't stress it. Angela

And it cost me a fortune. I had to buy a LOT of books because they just weren't available through our library (and we have a pretty good library system) Angela

Ditto Spelling Power if your children are in third grade or higher. Angela

I think most of the read alouds (especially the history) would be way over the average first grader. We used Sonlight with SOTW for 3rd and I thought that many of the books would have been better suited for 4th or 5th grade. My daughter was a very strong student but she just didn't absorb a lot of it. The readers were perfect for her at the time so I think they may be a little too easy for a 6th grader. JMHO Angela

I haven't really compared programs but I tend to think a strong Algebra program should be good for pretty much anyone. I have one daughter that finds math easy and one who struggles and I found that the material I choose doesn't help as much as lots of practice and review. I am not an expert but if the program you chose is solid, than I would take another stab at it. Maybe he just needed to mature a little. Angela (My oldest did Jacobs Algebra and now she moved onto Jacobs Geometry in 8th grade)

but now I teach it concurrently with phonics. We just started All about Spelling with my youngest "K" student and I used Spell to Write and Read with my 4th grader. I like the fact that they really kill 2 birds with 1 stone. It reinforces phonics while teaching spelling. I don't think there is a wrong way to do it. There isn't really a problem with waiting a while IMHO. Angela

I would suggest going at whatever pace your child can comfortably and contently handle at this point. I agree with some others that it is important to know that you may have to slow down later (at least in certain subjects). Also, she won't be "behind" in second grade if she hasn't completed FLL1 because it is not a race! I found that out the hard way also and I thought I was doing something wrong. Now I know that all of my children learned at their own speed which was not a constant speed, but more like a roller coaster. Sometimes we'd be flying through material and other times we would be struggling uphill. That's just how it is (at least with my oldest 3!) Good luck!

And I am having my oldest daughter do the 7th grade book over the next 2 years (and she is in 8th grade and went through the same book last year!). My 7th grader is doing the 6th grade book and my 4th grader is doing the 4th grade book. After going through the 7th grade book I decided that what was covered was enough to get almost anyone through life. Angela

that neither one of them is my favorite. Sonlight is great if you don't need a lot of activities and you are NOT teaching multiple levels. I think doing 2 cores (at least with my 5) would be very difficult. I loved the reading but would use Sonlight at or below grade level because some of the books can be quite intense by grade 3-4. We used Sonlight K,part of 1,3, and my oldest girls are doing 100 now. It's also not very much fun and I found I never followed the teacher's manual so it was a waste of money. Winter's promise is a great program also but uses very different types of books. Most of them are picture books and are true non-fiction. We are doing the American History one that combines k-6 now with 2 of my children. Personally, I can't stand all of the cutting and pasting in the Time Travelers CD's. I tried lapbooking once and I despised that also so this is a personal thing. I have ended up tweaking it because I wanted to add in more biographies for my 4th grader (mostly the ones listed for Sonlight 3) and I add in different activities because I can't bring myself to cut out one more thing. Just in case you are wondering, I loved Story of the World (I'll be going back to this next year!) and Veritas Press for the younger grades. Both of these are just enough instruction without being confining and they are very easy to tweak for different grade levels. I do have a good library system so that helps. If I needed to buy all of the books, I would definitely consider one of the programs you are considering. Angela

We attempted to switch from Saxon a couple of times when I would hear good things about other programs or I hit the slightest bump in the road. Now I have tried Bob Jones, MCP, Math u See, Singapore..... Now everyone is using Saxon except for my oldest who is starting geometry. If you are generally happy with Saxon (or any curriculum for that matter!) I suggest sticking with it. I agree with the poster who said to give your child the tests for that book in the beginning of the year and start where they need to start. I also agree that it will be hard to find any program for any 5 year old that can't write and I would suggest either buying number stamps for your 5 year old or writing for her (especially the date!). I find Saxon the most complete program that we've tried. I am one who doesn't mind skipping things when it has already been learned but I despise having to add things to a core curriculum. Angela

First, I would simply agree with your husband that there are things that your daughter would miss if whe were homeschooled. Next I would focus on the negative things she would miss by being homeschooled (the meanness, the peer dependency, the rigidity it puts on a family as far as family time (kids have to go to bed early, be gone all day), vacations (have to be taken when kids are out of school), the wasted time traveling back and forth, the social issues that you may not agree with, the % of High schoolers that are already infected with STD's . Take him to the mall on a Friday night and ask him if that is what he wants his daughter to become in 8 years. If possible, introduce him to some older home educated children. I would just ask him to be open minded and consider the options and not make any steadfast decisions untill next summer. Luckily, you have a year. Angela ps. I went through the same thing when my oldest was entering K. She is in 8th now and my husband is loving home schooling!