I have four children as well . For the most part my girls are pretty happy to play with themselves . But then we have our days that they don't want to play with each other .. I said I have all girls !!! LOL . We do plenty for the most part. We used to do alot of activities , but with the cost of gas going up its not happening as much as it used to . I'm a social bug and like to be around people ( I guess I'm a rare bug ) and people in our area keep to themselves so we pretty much don't have much of a choice but to not really get together with other families . We used to have neighbor kids but they moved away last month and my girls miss playing with them , though I didn't really care for the neighbor kids ( they were just mighty hyper ) . I know I have the same worries you do . But our 4 have siblings so they do play with 'other' children :>) It's hard to say not to worry . But if they are happy right now then everything honestly is alright :>)

From what I hear , we haven't tried it yet but CLE has an excellent writing program . Just because its made by Mennonites doesn't mean its simple by anymeans . CLE's reading does teach the elements of reading . But its not combined with their LA which is a seperate program in itself as well . I've heard wonderful things about the stories how wholesome they are and how well put together the who program in itself is put together . There is a CLE group and you can see samples and ask more questions there of those who use CLE Reading as well as a CLE representative that can give you more detailed info on their reading program . But I have read it can get intense in the upper grades . As for WT1 its a writing program that includes grammar , and some spelling . As far as how much grammar you want is up to you . To me WT1 has plenty in it for a 3rd grader , but if your using it for a 4th grader you may want to beef it up with a seperate grammar program . If your child struggles with spelling you will want to add a traditional spelling program as WT's focuses only on the words they misspell in the writing of their rough drafts . For us its not an issue . I have a seperate spelling program already . If anyone is interested I've been posting daily of our works with Writing Tales 1 on our homeschool blog . To the orignial poster to me WWE and WT1 would be too much of the same thing . I would chose one over the other . I'm not familar with FLL3 so can't comment on that .

My 8yr old is like this . I can read a story to my 10 year old and she can remember just about everything and then remember it years from now . My 8yr old's short term memory is poor . I can read her a story and in seconds she's lost that info . She will either answer it with some far fetched answer , or just doesn't know at all . She had seizures as an infant and I attribute it to that . She was diagnosed with a receptive delay . My 8yr old is smart , actually doing 3rd grade work . She is my child that needs repetition . We have to read things over and over then she gets it . My daughter is alot like JFS in IL child is . But its amazing what she can tell me about Pokemon and Hanna Montana and all that other nonsense though .

The lines start out big enough and they do get smaller . What I did was just bought the HWT printing paper which has bigger lines and we just used that . It worked perfectly .

Yes once cursive is mastered . I'm planning on starting up with printing with my oldest here now that her cursive had improved her handwriting .

yes we did . My oldest learned with this book at age 6 . She learned it VERY quickly , and did most of it on her own . I definitley think a 5yr old can learn cursive with this program :>)

Oh yes , you can improvize and use other things :>) I bought most of my own stuff seperately or just used legos or other toys I have around the house . Completely doable .

I say you need the teacher's book so that you can play the games that are included in the program , and give you the feel for how to teach the writing effectively . Its a very simple teacher's manual . It doesn't speak over your head and you can just open , read and teach . No studying on the teacher's part involved at all . That is what makes me REALLY like this program because I don't have the time to always sit and study something to be able to teach my daughters . Is is possible to teach without it ? Possibly . But you miss out on the meat of the program if you don't have it . You really do . To me : Its a MUST .

Wow ! Thanks alot . There are alot of Saint Stories in there . That's perfect . Now I don't have to buy seperate books .

Hello all . We're getting into the part of CHOW where they begin talking about some of the saints , Saint Helena, St. Simeon Stylites , and others . Can anyone recommend a good book for a 10 yr old and 8yr old to read about these saints ???

The manual for 2 and 3 grade can be pretty optional . If your not good with grammar or just want the answers to score their work quickly then I say its a must have . If you are confident in your grammar abilities then I say its pretty optional for those two grades . 4th and up I say is a must have .

You could copy them and keep them for a portfolio ( if you need to do this or want to :>) Or you can get those sheet protectors , copy one and reuse it with a dry erase marker if you don't want to waste paper :>)

Yep . Kumon books here too , lots of coloring and drawing pictures . Leap Pad letters ( the magnetic thingy , can you tell I'm tired ? ) to listen to sounds . Leap Pad . and reading lots of books :>)

Thanks for posting this ! Was in need of this too :>)

Okay if he is 11 then have you checked out Writing Tales 2 then ? This is geared towards 4th-6th graders. It uses pretty much the same methods of CW and usually she has families switch over to Homer after WT2 because she doesn't have 3 out yet . If he is still floundering it doesn't sound like he is ready for something like Homer yet . He sounds alot like my 10yr old :>) She just didn't know what to write . Now granted I've started with WT1 just so I can find where it was I lost her since we first started writing . But you could easily go into WT2 with him from the sounds of it . WT is similar to Classical -Aesop in the sense in the things that it teachers . But to me is much more gentler and has brought a love in writing out of my 10 yr old that has absolutley has HATED it to its very core . It is now her most favorite subject. I started her off on WT1 to build her confidence level because it was at an all time low . Writing for her meant total frustration , full of " I don't know mom" , full of tears , running the other way when I told her it was time to write something . Now its just the total opposite . As with Susan's program that may very well work better for him as well . I'm not so sure how hands on WWE is yet I haven't had the time to really look at it all yet . I do know that WT's works on all types of learners. She includes activites for audio learners - listening to the story , for visual - clip art with the pages and drawing , for the hands on kind of kid the author includes games that help make it fun and to 'cement' those facts in , but in a fun way . Either way if you chose to use WT's or WWE it maybe the better way to go . It sounds like maybe he needs a confidence boost . I wouldn't go by his grade level . But by the level he truely is at in the whole writing process . I can't tell you what to do or what to get but whatever you do decide to do it sounds like he needs to take a small step back and start again somewhere. That of course is all my two cents .

Penny , are you wanting to use something different in terms of a different program all together or looking for something a bit simpler since your two are my oldest's two ages ? Or are you looking for something similar but not as intense ? Because I've been told that after completing Writing Tales 1 and 2 that you can easily go into Homer . But if your looking for something totally different in the way of teaching maybe the others the ladies have suggested maybe better.

Oh I do like Saxon math . But its the age that I'm thinking of and if he is able to write outside of the book that is great ! If not Christian Light math is similar to Saxon , works at a higher level then Saxon does .

yes 2nd grade is alot of review . If you have a child that is quick to pick up concepts you could possibly go from 1 to 3 . But the typing in the book goes from that elementary big type to much smaller type . For some kids that makes a huge difference . But if you have a child that needs alot of review . I don't recommend it . But alot of 2nd is just review.

My second daughter is 8yrs old . She'll be 9 in November . She is doing 3rd grade Calvert right now . But I consider her an advanced 2nd grader . It would depend on your child and how they learn but Writing Tales has seemed to work for us so far . My 2nd daughter has some learning disabilites so narration is a Tough , tough thing for her . But Writing Tales has left us with enough flexibility that I can reword things for her to get her to think for herself that she can do this program ,and I am still getting the same results . I would say it would work well either way . Amy's program includes what to do when a child isn't able to write out sentences yet and let them dictate the story and have them copy it . So yes you could start at the beginning of the year and take it slow . As the program goes on the stories get longer. My thinking is though that by that time your child should be able to grasp the writing process . She does encourage you to have your nonwriter to attempt to write 1 or 2 sentences in the beginning BUT in the same breath this is NOT a requirement for the program . I'm finding with my late 8 yr old that we are taking it much slower then I am with my 10 year old . I bought the Writing Tales 1 program for both girls because my 10 yr old just FEARED writing like there was no tomorrow and what I was using wasn't working for either one of them at all . It is building my 10 yr old's confidence like no tomorrow and this program is the first thing she takes out in the morning . The 1st story lessons she did 1 weeks of worth in one day she loved it so much and I couldn't believe that my 10 yr old who couldn't write a thing wrote something by the time she was done with the first story lessons . She is almost finished with her 2nd story the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse . I do expect to go through Writing Tales 1 faster with my 10 yr old and get into WT2 . But at the same time I'd like to take my time because WT3 isn't out yet either ! I hope that the author of the program continues to write it because I would absolutley hate to have to change it . This works for us and I am so thrilled that I've finally found a program that works for my girls and that works for me too ! By the way there is a Writing Tales Yahoo group too , and the author pops in from time to time . Right now she's ready getting ready for the homeschool conventions but she still comes in and answers questions too :>) Here's the link : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/writingtales Its just starting up . But its a great place to go for advice, for support on the program and to share your children's stories :>) Also one of her editors just joined recently too .

It is very difficult to choose . And just to think a long time ago Homeschooling parents didn't have much of a choice :>) LOL. Now we have too many ! And to sift through them all . I would just take the time first to get to know your kids . Find out what their learning styles are . One child may grasp concepts quickly and work well with a math like Singapore and another may need constant repetition to get it which Saxon works well for . I just sit and pour through the catalogs . Find what curriculum fits " MY " teaching style . Someone here may like a curriculum in a box method ( buying all of one curriculum ) , and one may choose to pick and choose diffferent books from different publishers . Also being on a tight budget getting used curriculum from here , on Vegsource and other homeschool websites helps too .

Okay . Sounds like a plan BUT I see one thing . You said he is almost 8 . How is his writing skills ? Do you think he would be able to write out of a textbook? Saxon from 5/4 up is textbook . Though I have heard of some parents letting their kids write in the textbook , though some don't feel its enough room to write in either . I guess it just depends . I know you don't like to switch curriculums but how about a combination of Christian Light Math with Singapore . Their math scope and sequence is very similar to Horizons but they have a WAY better teacher's manual for their math program and I've heard nothing but good things about it . Then when you are through with grade 6 then have him test into Saxon . In the end its up to you . If you feel you can handle the Horizon's math without the help up to that point then I say really at this age I would stick with what is working for him . But then if your wanting to free up some of your time and use the Saxon CD's then you could give it a try .

Yes, I'm curious to know too . Since everyone says you can go write to Homer after completing Writing Tales 2 . I hope that Writing Tales 3 and more will be out so we don't have to go to this program. I checked it out yesterday and it looks pretty involved, intense , and I don't know .l wasn't so sure about it like I have been with Writing Tales .

Well at this age I find you can't just tell them to write things . That they need something to fall upon . My 10 year old has struggled with writing from day 1 when we started . She could never think of anything . She didn't know where to start . Even when I sat and went through the whole process of it all . It was just a subject she absolutely HATED with a passion . It was pulling teeth . I hadn't been here on the board in quite some time and came back and a wonderful thing happened. I read a post . It was about a program called Writing Tales . So l looked into it . It looked very interesting and I thought we would give it a try . So I bought it and prayed that this would work for us . Low and behold my oldest was very relucant to start . I think she was thinking it was the same type of drudgery that I've put them through the past three years . But I convinced her finally to give it a try . And you know what ? She LOVES it ! All the tears were gone , the yelling from me to PLEASE , PLEASE , PLEASE let's get this written and done . Gone . Its now the first subject of her day . This child has hated to write from the get go and now she loves it ! I can't be more happier . I think the thing is at this age there are some creative little beings that can sit and write a novel if let alone to do so . And there are some children out there that need prompts . Questions to get them started . Activities to get them excited to actually make them WANT to write . And this definitley fit the bill for us . My daughter who refused to write and would ONLY copied what I wrote down , this child that would say " Uh , I don't know what to write ." Is now writing short little stories of her own and I can't be more proud of her. She just completed the 2nd story out of 15 that is in the program in record time . We just got the program last Friday and she WANTED to work on it on Saturday and Sunday !!! You just can't tell them to write something . You need to give them the tools that will help them to become effective and efficient writers . That's all to it .

Interesting because our Monday's don't always start to well either .

I would say look into Christian Light math maybe .. its similar to Abeka and Saxon . Its not colorful like Abeka but works a bit like Saxon but is more advanced then Saxon . If that just made any sense . And its in workbook form ( if that matters. ) There is a Christian Light group that has lots of samples . http://groups.yahoo.com/group/christianlightfamilies