This is interesting! So you record a lesson for him each day in advance, where you read the words and dictation phrases to him? I've been thinking of making a "worksheet" and having them just copy the words for a couple of days after the day I teach them the new material.

Ellie, just curious what you like about Rod and Staff's Spelling (Sound and Structure). Would you be willing to share with me? :)

Thank you! I will check this one out. :)

I think that if I had been using Horizons since the beginning, this would be true for my daughter too. The program we've been using doesn't have nearly the amount of problems each lesson day, so she's going to need it. Do you require every problem of every lesson to be completed? I plan to start my son in Horizons 1 in the fall, and I bet that he'll get the facts down with just the lessons. And, btw, I've got littles and bigs too. Isn't it wonderful, overwhelming, fun, and interesting? My oldest is 14, youngest 3. Thanks! :)

Thank you! :)

I have Times Tales. That's a great idea to use it over the summer. Thank you! :)

That's interesting that CLE does that! Do they do that with addition and subtraction facts, too? Incidentally, I just ordered this from Rainbow Resource, so that will do the trick! :)

I love this idea! :)

I have. She just about tests into 3, which is why I'm planning to use the rest of this school year to brush up on some things before the fall. Thanks! :)

Thank you! :)

This is so helpful. I'm happy to know that as long as my daughter has some exposure and understanding now that she'll be fine to do the Horizons 3 book in the fall. Thanks so much! :)

Thank you, Chris! I will check that one out. :)

I'm switching one of my children to Horizons math. I'd like to start her in grade 3 in the fall. She understands multiplication, but doesn't have facts memorized. Is this going to be a problem with Horizons 3? Does that level assume that the student still needs to master memorizing the facts and include lots of review of multiplication? Thank you! :)

I've been using All About Spelling for years and really do love it. I'm thinking a workbook based program might be less time-intensive for me, but I haven't found any that have lists that don't look like a bunch of random words. For instance, I like that AAS chooses a word list based on a phonogram or word pattern. For instance, this week my daughter is doing words with /ai/ and /ay/ phonograms in them (rain, fail, play, say, etc.). So is there a workbook based program that is similar to this? Thank you! :) **Edited to add: I've used this with my oldest for many years and he's on Level 6. The example I mentioned is for one of my younger children, who has only been using AAS for a couple of years. (Didn't want anyone to think that it took many years for a child to get to /ai/ and /ay/ phonograms in AAS! :)

Thank you! This is very helpful. :) I have a couple of questions for you, if you are willing to answer them: 1. Did your son just not like that the pages were too plain? 2. Does the traditional one that you used assume that the student already knows the addition and subtraction facts, and teach and drill the multiplication facts? Thank you so much!

I just asked RS this question directly and this is what they said: If you are using 1st edition, Level A is optional. If you are using 2nd edition, Level A is considered necessary before B.

Jerico, that's very helpful ... thank you! Glad it doesn't have to take a whole hour!

I'm thinking of switching my daughter to Saxon 3. I'm a little confused about the version. I know that there's the old standard and then a newer "intermediate" version. Can someone help me understand the difference? Opinions about which is better? Also, am I right that the original version can take up to an hour per day? :scared: As a mom of 5, not sure I can swing that. But I need to find a solid program for my daughter. So if I need to make it happen, I will. Thanks for any help you can give me! :)

This is all VERY helpful. Thank you for giving me a feel for what the investigations are like! :)

Thank you! And I hear you about dinner preparations ... :coolgleamA:

Would you mind telling me what the 3rd edition investigations are like? I'll see if I can find a hardcover 3rd edition .... and matching answer key! Thank you so much!

Thank you! :) I'll see if I can find a used answer key in the right edition.

I'm looking for Saxon 54 for my daughter. The ones I've seen around have been hard-bound, but the newer ones (like this) are softbound. Is there much difference? If I buy a used hardbound, is it pretty much the same? And if I buy a used hardbound, would I just need the student book and an answer key? Thank you!

Momling, thank you! This has been so helpful! :) This might be a good option for my daughter who is less confident in her drawing skills ... thank you! Oh, I love this idea! Thank you for digging around to find them for me! :)

In the fall, I'm planning to start a 2-3 year study of world history with my then 5th and 7th grade daughters, mostly likely using Sonlight's Cores G & H. I would like my girls to create notebooking pages for the people / events that we study, ideally without templates and pre-made pages. But I am new to notebooking and don't know where to start. Could you please describe to me some ways that we could do this? What types of writings, drawings, maps, etc. can be included in notebooking pages? Are there links to blog posts that would help me? I just don't even really know what these pages could possibly look like, so some pictures of examples would be very helpful. It might also help my very artistic 7th grader get a vision for what she would like her pages to look like. Thank you so much for any help you can give me! Blessings, Heart_Mom :)