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:

a) Help you to feel centered, peaceful and calm Time alone to study and read in the morning. Also a clean school room so I see what I need and don't have to hunt things down! b) are your "go-to" resources, or things that seem to help you get back on track Honestly, my husband. When things get whacky I ask him to look at our day and see what we are doing wrong. Sometimes having someone else evaluate how you spent your time can be really eye opening! c) perspectives or words of wisdom that help you to prioritize when needed, and juggle all the necessary roles as well For me when we get this way I need to step back and ask myself why I am hs'ing in the first place. I can get caught up very quickly in new curric. and extra activites. Before I know it our "school" looks nothing like what I had started out to accomplish. Then I scale WAY back and that helps a lot!

We use MOH and lOVE IT! But I haven't used anything else to compare it to. My son is in second grade. At first I did all the timelines, memory cards, etc. It just overwhelmed him and he lost interest quickly (which surprised me because this kid LOVES history). Once I took that out and we just read the lesson and did one or two activities a week he came around. It is easy to read and even my four year old understands it and asks questions. But it has room to "dive deeper" for the older kids as well. Just my opinion :001_smile:

I love all these responses! Thank you! Boscopup - I think you are on to something with the 4 vs. 5 day week. I know when I was researching Robinson Curric. they really stress a 6 day week. I can see how that would keep the momentum/focus going. That would not work for me at this stage in life, but maybe adding back in a fifth day will help. I just stopped doing it this year because I wanted a full day to run errands (I have to grocery shop at several stores because of our food intolerances. Its an all day adventure.) But maybe I can still do some school on Friday a.m. before we leave to shop. Also pw23kids - Love the timer idea! My son has NO CONCEPT of time management. It took him (and I am kidding!) three hours to do three math pages from Singapore the other day (and it was all REVIEW!). He was day dreaming, or whining or running after his sisters. My nerves were shot by the end of it! I think if he saw on a timer that he was loosing "his" time he might be more careful on how he spent "my" time! Excellent idea! This forum has just been the best thing for me! I have been feeling in a rut but now I am ready to shake up the way we do school!

My son is easily distracted and I have to constantly tell him to focus on what he is doing. He daydreams a lot. I think this plays a large role in the long mornings for us. I am trying to think of some ways to change things up a bit for him to keep him engaged. The next two weeks we are taking time off from Singapore (he finished 2A and we are moving into 2B) to play math games and work on strengthening his math facts. We currently do a four day week but I am exploring changing up how we do science and history. I don't feel like three hours is too much overall but maybe too much at once. And definetly too much of just sitting, writing, reading, reciting etc. I want him to love learning and right now it is a chore and a big bore to him. I get hung up on getting through the curric., and checking it off my "must do" list that I forget that he is 7 and needs to RUN!:willy_nilly:

Why did you start HSing? I just couldn't imagine leaving my child with someone else all day! And the schools here are not what we wanted for our dc education. We had friends that home schooled and we were amazed by how well their kids interacted with adults (and children). I started asking questions and I just knew it was the course we would take. My eldest was about 4 months old at that time. I went to my first home school convention when he was three! I was excited to say the least!! When you started, how long did you plan on HSing and has that changed? I have no plans to stop, unless God directs us differently. For now we will just keep on going. What is your favorite thing about HSing? Being able to pick and choose our curric. Offering subjects he would never get in school. Taking field trips and "doing school" in different places besides behind a desk! What is the hardest part of HSing? Never getting a break. Its a full time job. Your mom, teacher, house keeper, and wife. Not to mention friend, daughter etc. There is very little "me" time.

I don't have any advice, sorry! I am considering this same schedule change for us. We do History and Science 3 days with an activity on the 4th (if we get to it!). Doing it two days instead, do you just read 1.5 lessons a day? Do you do activities, mapping etc. on the same day? Just curious. I look forward to hearing what responses you get back.

My son doesn't like how much work he has to do. He doesn't like to write very much. He loses focus quickly. I try to break it up more, but once I release him for a break I have a hard time getting him to sit down again!

How many hours do you spend on school a day? And by that I mean actual books/seat work. My son is in second grade and we can spend about 3 hours a day on school. Is that normal, too short, too long? We do MOH (I just read daily and do one activity a week. No memory cards or timelines yet), AIG Science (again read daily w/ activity once a week), SM 2B, WWE 1, FLL 2, AAS 1, and Reading. I was just curious if we are about the same as everyone else.

I have pieced it together for the last three years, and really like doing it that way. I know what I like and what meets our needs. However, I have been looking into 'boxed' sets because I have another child starting next year and I thought it might help simplify our lives (well mine at least!) if it were all laid out for me. My only issue with this is what if they child excels in one area and lags in another? Right now I can adjust our curric. based on his growth in a particular area. I don't want to get "boxed" in (pun intended ;)) and not have the flexibility that I am used to.

I love that you are schooling "year round". We didn't at first and he lost a lot over the summer. Now we "keep our feet wet" during the summer at least with reading and math. I use the summer to purchase new curric. and get everything organized. I like to plan it all out in an excel spreadsheet for the entire year. It takes a bit of work but saves me time in the long run. We do school 4 days a week and use Fridays to "catch up" on anything that didn't get finished and expeirements etc (along with running errands). Right now we got off schedule a bit so I need to go in and revamp my spreadsheet. This is to be expected. I just like having it to keep the flow going and I can see daily/weekly progress.