I think it depends on the child. I use it with my soon to be 8 yr. old ds. He hates writing, for the pure fact that it takes to long! My dd would love it too much though so it wouldn't be effective with her. My son loves to learn, he just doesn't like to waste his time writing. He sure doesn't mind wasting my time though! He has written "I will not waste mommy's time" several times over the last few weeks!!

I am a little worried that we will get the pre-level and finish it quickly. Then get level one and finish it before level 2 (and the remaining) come out. What would you do while waiting?

With all the excitement about AAR coming out, I was wondering what is your favorite reading program (that can be the one you used to teach to read and also what you are using for older children)? I hated what we used to teach our son to read. I was a first time homeschooler who took some bad advice. And instead of chucking the curric. when I saw it was working I stuck it out, only to have my son completely lost by the end of the year! Currently we don't have a "reading program" for him. We just read and discuss. We also use McGuffey Readers. Anyway, I don't want to make the same mistake with my ds next fall. Love to hear your opinions! We have OPGTR. I haven't tried it with her yet. Suggestions?!

I am so curious about this curriculum. I would love a great reading program. The program we used for my son was less than spectacular and we are still dealing with the aftermath for it (his reading has a lot of holes in it). I would gladly pay the price (although I feel it is too high) if it is a great program. But 7-8 levels?! What will be covered?! I wonder exactly what components are needed? I guess if you figure that two of my children can use it then the price isn't that bad (as long as I don't have to replace everything for the second child!). Any ideas when the other levels will be out?

We are in a charter school that requires it. (I would love to be an independent, but hubby likes the charter so it is my concession to hs). Next month my son will take his first state mandated test (he is in the 2nd grade). I have mixed emotions on it. I like to think I know what his strengths are and what they are not. And I don't like him compared to thousands of other children in our state. But on the other hand, it does show me where we need to work on. And it gives him exposure to test taking (this is his first ever test! EVER!! YIKES!!). What I don't like about it is that we educate using a classical model (hello, this is the wtm forum) but this test doesn't take that into account. So we have had to spend the last couple months doing "test prep" which is time consuming and frustrating. I have to teach him concepts that his books haven't covered yet just so he will have an idea of what the test is talking about. I don't want to send him in there confused and frustrated. (Also, the charter requires us to prep because they don't want poor tests scores...again a reason to hate this test!) So basically, I don't know if I would test if I didn't have to. I do know that it wouldn't be in the 2nd grade. And I certainly wouldn't do it for a family member. That would be strictly between my husband and I!

We spend 15-20 minutes (I am guessing, haven't used a timer) 4x a week. In the beginning we did two steps a day (but a lot was review). Now we do about two steps a week. So two days per step.

My son just finished level 1 today! Whoo hoo!! He is NOT a natural speller. AAS has been a huge blessing for us. Even I find AAS helpful with the rules. I never knew the rules to spelling. I just knew what was right and what wasn't but could tell you why. AAS really helps cement the reasons why. If my son gets stuck on something I can just start the rule and he will finish it, then spell the word correctly. I love this program. Worth every penny! Anyway, I will be starting level 1 with my K ds next fall. And son should be readly for Level 3 by then (we will finish Level 2 this spring/summer). The only thing I want seperate for my kids is the letter tiles. I think it would be helpful to have seperate sets (espicially since they are on the same level & each child may need more review in one area or another), but if you are really organized then you might do fine with one.

Thank you! I don't know how we got through FFL 2 so early! Our school year isn't over until May and we will finish FFL 2 in the next couple weeks.

My son will be finishing up FLL vol 2 soon. But I don't feel he is ready to go into vol 3 yet. Does anyone know of some good supplements to reinforce what he has already learned? Maybe something along the lines of a workbook since FLL is more oral? Thanks!

Today...my kids are still playing, making a huge mess, chasing eachother and screaming loudly...and it is almost 11 am! Normally we start school by 9. We do the "tough" stuff first like math and language arts. We take a snack break (which I have him bring with him to the school room because once he leaves the table he is hard to get back!) then we do spelling, history/geography, science and reading. I try to wrap it up by lunch but often history and science are after lunch while the baby naps. I would love to do art stuff in the afternoon but I am just not "artsy" at all. They usually end up outside playing until daddy is home and we eat dinner. A couple nights a week we run errands or go to classes. I tried to be super scheduled and it just didn't work for us. Now I keep a loose schedule or flow chart and that is more us.

I love Rainbow Resources! Also, Oriental Trading Company has stickers and such fairly cheap. Check out discountschoolsupply DOT com as well!

When my daughter is in the school room with us, my son feels it is his duty to teach her, correct her, explain things to her etc. I have to constantly tell him to focus on his work and let me do the teaching. Next year when she is there full time with us it is going to be interesting to say the least. And then add in my soon to be preschooler YIKES! Right now we have a four small IKEA tables put together to make one large workstation. I think next year I am going to have to pull them apart and give each child a desk/table seperate from the other to limit distractions. Our school room is just off their bedrooms as well, so I may send ds into his room for his reading etc. I am :bigear: for any advice you get. I think a lot of us are in the same boat. This age is challenging for sure!

We are starting Latin next year (we will see how that goes. we might table it until ds is a little older.) Then Spanish after that. We live in a largely Hispanic community so knowing Spanish would be very beneficial for my children. And it is the language Dh and I both took in school so I have some exposure to it. I would love it if they wanted to continue and another language after that. Not sure which, French maybe.

I agree with everyone else, if he is willing to go TAKE HIM! My husband has always been on board, but has never gone to a convention (we have one locally every year). Last year I was so bummed that he didn't go because some of the speakers were dad's encouraging dad's! Not to mention he can talk to distributors about the products and see it all in person. It is a great experience. Oh and the social networking is awesome! You can meet a lot of "like minded" people to help reinforce why you are doing what you are doing!

We do a 4 year (currently in year 2) with MOH. I like MOH for the most part but do feel it moving fast. My son LOVES history and begs for me to keep reading everyday. My two main concerns with staying with MOH is 1) Not enough American history which I know my boy would love and I think is needed. 2) DD will come into our 4 year rotation in year 3 which isn't ideal, but I guess in the end she will get the same number of rotations just in a different order? I am going to check the other links out and do some research. We might have to make some changes :glare: