:iagree: We use A Beka as our main math program & I find that my oldest is about six months to a year ahead of the local ps kids. BUT, ps here isn't necessarily the same as ps wherever you live! We've used Singapore (1A/1B for summer 'review' & Earlybird 1B/2A for K with #2) and Horizons K (book 1 for K with #2 after doing Earlybird). I'm strange and give other math curriculum placement tests at the end of the year as kind of an assessment of where the kid is at. The fact that some programs teach different things at different times really makes comparisions of level difficult!! Horizons is definitely "ahead" at the lower levels we've looked at. However, except for geometrical figures (which A Beka really doesn't cover at the lower levels), my 7 yr old DD placed into Horizons 3 with no issue after completing A Beka 2. Saxon at the lower levels (up to Saxon 3) is "behind" most of the others, in general. I.e., I'd use Saxon 1 for K, Saxon 2 for 1st, etc. Singapore is 'advanced' in many ways, but like MUS (even though they are completely different types of programs), requires different math "thinking." I have a friend who used Singapore with her #2 from the beginning and would like to use it with her #1 child but didn't start homeschooling until 3rd grade and she thought it was "too late" to switch over because of the different way Singapore teaches. (I'm not saying it is, just passing on her opinion). Good luck with your decision!

My oldest (7) hates writing with a pencil/paper. She does very little of her own writing outside of math and spelling. She dictates to me much of what we do outside those two subjects. We will be doing WWE & GWG this summer in short chunks (like whatever we can get done of a lesson of WWE in 15 minutes, for example). My #2 child (almost 6) loves to write and will spend hours with pencil and paper, writing (cursive or copying printed words) and drawing. If I don't force it (and make her hate it), I see her as being one who will do much of her own writing by next year at this time (when she will be around the same age your DD is at now). I think it depends on the child & you know your child best. I agree you don't want to "coddle" but you don't want to make them abhor it, either. Gently push. Challenge them sometimes. Break the work up when you really want them to do it. Definitely make sure the handwriting work is neat (or as neat as their "good" effort can make it) and they can write fluently (eventually) so it doesn't trip them up when they do want to get their point across. Good luck!

We used Apologia's Astronomy for first semester and I designed my own around Time's "Planet Earth" book. Not the greatest, but not bad - especially for the cheap price I got it. http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Earth-Time-Life-Student-Library/dp/078351350X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241670808&sr=1-2 It didn't cover everything, but we supplemented every section with library books.

I'll go with this one. However, you may not be amazed at the progress. She still might not be ready. If you have something "fun" for her to do, by all means do it. Otherwise, give it a break for the summer & start fresh (possibly with something different, whatever you decide). We struggled through 100EL with my oldest but she didn't "like" to read until she was just-turned-7 and jumped two reading levels within a month. My #2 child is almost six and couldn't care less about learning to read. We just do letter sounds and beginning spelling stuff. I figure she'll get it eventually. We're going to take a bit of a break this summer, though. GOod luck!

I was put off by the Amazon reviews for awhile, but my kids have enjoyed SOTW 1 this year. We plan on continuing with SOTW 2 next year. In reading more "adult level" books for myself to supplement what I was telling the kids in addition to the SOTW chapters, I found some descriptions of events/people which differed from what Bauer wrote. None were very important at my kid's ages. The only ones I can think of right now dealt with personal life / friends / family stuff on Alexander the Great and especially the Cleopatra/Julius Caesar relationship. In both those cases, I think it is hard to know what exactly happened or what they were like, so she just chose one story and went with it. Like previous posters said, history is filled with bias. As a Catholic, I know I'll be keeping a sharp eye out in SOTW 2 to add in some 'balance' to the claim that "Bloody Mary" was a horrible ruler and "Good Queen Bess" was the greatest. The kids really like SOTW and they retain so much from the 'story telling' format. I hope they have put up lots and lots of "pegs" in their brains where they can hang more information the next time we go through history (probably using a different curriculum, but who knows?).

When my oldest was 6, she was completely uninterested in reading anything on her own. At some point last fall (right before she turned 7), she decided to take off reading on her own and surprised the heck out of us. I wasn't interested in reading on my own until I was 8 or 9. Since I come from a family of "readers," my mother sent me to summer school to learn "reading." (This meant I filled out a lot of grammar worksheets and "learn to read" papers.) It was horrid. Try to relax. Keeping reading to him. Expose him to good literature. Be patient. (I repeat this to myself constantly since my almost-6-yr-old doesn't want to learn to read at all.)

My dd7 was really REALLY struggling with reading those "Level 2" learn to read books at the beginning of the year. By Christmas, she was zipping through The Boxcar Children. She's also ready as many Trixie Belden's as we have available and loves any books about ponys or horses. In desperation for her very quick zipping through, we've turned to Judy Moody, Animal Ark, Hank the Cowdog, & other similar series available at the local library. For school stuff, I offer her more "meaty" things, but she likes "easy" & interesting "mystery" stories for fun reading. It has been a real challenge keeping up with her zoom in comprehension and her wish to read so much. This is the kid that said she hated reading this summer. (She loves to be read to.) My almost six year old isn't interested in learning to read. So, we'll see!

Seton is sometimes a little "too much" for both new & long-time homeschoolers, although they do hold your hand and walk you through everything. The links provided are *really* good ones. I'll add that Adoremus books http://www.adoremusbooks.com/ is another good supplier of books/materials for homeschooling. They have a lot of things listed by umbrella school & grade (Seton/Kolbe/Catholic Heritage Curriculum/Mother of Divine Grace (listed under "Laura Berquist"), Our Lady of Victory) as well as just general homeschooling things and religious items. Good luck to your friend!

I don't know what to tell you. We are finishing up SOTW 1 with the activity book (maps/coloring pages & occasional activities) and as much appropriate related reading material as I could get at our tiny local library. My 7 & 5 yr olds (both girls) enjoyed history a *lot* this year. They beg to do it because they love listening to stories & coloring the pages. Congrats for keeping up with some schooling with the new baby. I have read many people say they regretted selling something & rebought it to retry it (sometimes selling it again later :tongue_smilie:). Good luck.

Math: I've never used A Beka K, but did go through quite a bit of Horizons K with my dd#2 and just started my second child on A Beka 1. I think Horizons K is more of a 1st grade program. I know A Beka 1 is a bit advanced for many PS first graders, but my oldest "got it" just fine without a formal K math program. If you have a wiggly willy, I wouldn't use a formal math program in K. My oldest is STILL a wiggler (although a girl) and we use movement as much as possible to keep her "into" her subjects. When she was in K, we just used a lot of manipulatives (money, Legos, animal crackers, M&Ms, stuffed animals, etc.).

I'm Catholic & use A Beka for math. I might use it for Language Arts at some point. For what we use it for, there have only been once or twice that I had to "explain" something to my kid. It was never something we disagreed with, only something they weren't familiar with. We love the bible verses that are all over the place in their workbooks. :001_smile:

Okay, breathe! :chillpill: Below are some ideas for you. Feel free to pick & choose your preference. Next, see where her material from Horizons K leaves off & A Beka 1 starts up. You could do this by having her take the tests one per day until she shows some weakness. (Start with some flashcard work for about five minutes, then the test is the rest of her "math" for the day.) Either take note of the weaknesses if there is only one or two per test, or stop if the test is a frustration/failure for her. When you find that 'frustration level,' you know where to start. Find the lesson(s) that first teach the weakness areas and mark those down. Then, find the first lesson after the last test she did well on. (Say, Lesson 21, 33, & 39 for weak areas. She tested well up to #7, but fizzled on #8. Go through lessons 21, 33, & 39 (including their workbook pages), then start with #43 (the one right after Test 7). There are several "review" lessons in A Beka that don't introduce any new material. Feel free to skip or combine these if your child is breezing through. Stop to do them (however many of the problems are helpful) if she needs extra work in one of the areas that it reviews. Some of the umbrella programs that use A Beka schedule 1 1/2 lessons each day for many of the days of the year. You will probably find that A Beka 2 reviews a LOT of A Beka 1 material at the beginning. We were able to skip to Lesson 40 or 50, if I remember correctly, because the first section was review. We are almost done with A Beka 2 (one test left) because of this and that we do five lessons in four days most weeks. Definitely don't have her doing every single problem on each workbook page - especially the front ("review") side. She'll hate the program almost immediately!! Good luck! P.S. My five year old is working on Horizons K (1st book) right now and I'll be starting her on A Beka 1 next. So, I'll be interested in seeing how it goes for you. My oldest didn't "do" a formal K math program, but we worked pretty hard on A Beka 1. I don't think the next one will have to work as hard, although she has some mental gaps that time/maturity will hopefully provide.

I plan on using some with my oldest dd, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I think I'll do it near the "traditional end" of the school year to gage where she is then. Here are some I have bookmarked: http://www.pathwayreaders.com/tests/pathtest1.htm http://www.readingkey.com/athena/en/trialTest.php http://www.test4free.com/ http://members.tripod.com/~gleigh/readtst.htm This has links to several: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/060899.htm I'm sure the level will be different depending on the method used. I'm hoping to "average" them and use them again in a year to see how much she has changed and to help me pick appropriate level books for over the summer.

My mom "pushed" me ahead in math in PS by having me do Geometry in summer school. I ended up in Calculus (honors) as a Junior. I took Calc III & Diff. Equations at the local university my senior year. I agree this can be tricky with colleges. I applied for the engineering college of one university. They sent me a form letter telling me I wouldn't be able to get in because I was difficient in math and/or science. I'd met every one of their listed minimums before my senior year, but they must have looked only at my list of classes I was taking senior year (which didn't include the college math ones) and not my transcript. When necessary, I'm a fan of listing more than one math class in a year on the transcript. One can be under a pseudo "summer school" area. I also agree on "readiness" issues. If your child is ready, forge ahead. I wouldn't make him show his work unless he is messing up. I have a pencil-phobic child who doesn't like to write much of anything. As long as she gets stuff right orally, I don't require her to write (except on tests). (Obviously, she is at a much lower level than your ds.) This is motivation for her to spell & compute correctly the first time. :tongue_smilie:

Continential U.S. (only to 48 contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii). Please add $4.50 for each GrowingWithGrammar set shipped, or Please add $3.25 for each individual book shipped (when only purchasing one of the books, less than a complete set).

We have PrismaColors for "school" stuff, two really cheap brand sets that are almost all worn out, one set of Crayolas that my daughter uses for "everyday" coloring, and one new set of erasable Crayolas that we really like for certain projects where we like to be able to erase and recolor. Each has its own use and purpose. We will definitely go through a set of Prismacolors in one school year or less. Several are down to nubs already.

I used 100EZ with my oldest in K and we got through all 100. She could "read" them, but struggled mightily. We did SWR in 1st and while she could read better than the year before, she was missing a lot of words. She finally seemed to "give up" during the summer and only wanted to be read aloud to. She said she HATED reading. Then, about a month into school this fall, her reading took off and she's zipping through books at an alarming pace. Her little sister, at 5 1/2, was going through 100EZ when we hit the tear-factor each day. I dropped it and I am introducing SWR phonograms and loosely doing the beginning steps of that program without the spelling log yet. I am pondering not "pushing" reading at all and letting it come at her pace. (We'll still do SWR for spelling in the fall.) It might be a radical suggestion, but think about it. At least think about dropping the daily work for a month. Pick it up again later and see how she does then. I wouldn't switch. Her brain hasn't done the "click" yet.

Silly! :tongue_smilie: From Saxon 5/4 up, it is written to the student in a traditional "textbook" type of way.

Are you sure your six yr old & my seven yr old aren't twins? I have found, from experience, that when "we" are having one of those "won't sit still" days, I just send her off to do her own thing while I do my own thing (with her siblings - like change a diaper or figure out what my just-turned-three-yr old is doing underneath the bed with two crayons). The meltdowns here are usually about writing, so we spent half our "spelling" time having a discussion about actually _trying_ to do something rather than just melting into a puddle of noisy goo on the floor whenever I ask her to slightly exert herself. Just a reminder from someone who has BTDT (and still is trying to do it), you don't have to be a supermom. She's only 6! Hug her, do it aloud if you can (or can you write what you want her to see from the book on a white board?), or just do it tomorrow. *reminds self of this while typing it as advice to others* Edited to add that I'm tempted to buy all these extras (a la Flashmaster) but must-keep-to-budget!

:iagree: If I don't have a curriculum, I don't do it consistently. My kids *love* science experiments. Me, I hate doing prep and I hate doing cleanup. That's one reason why my kids don't do art unless I have a curriculum in hand. It is a reason why we don't do playdough. I'm an engineer. My husband is an engineer. Science is great. But I know my limitations. I *have* to have something in hand or I just do NOT get around to it every day or every week or even once a month. Even when I do, it may not get done. (Like the Prima Latina that is still sitting in a box unopened, almost a year after I bought it.)

Money is always an option. That is something I liked about this - it is less than $13. That's just over what I would have spent on ONE consumable art program (ArtPac). This kid erases a ton. We even have erasable colored pencils for that very reason. I'm not worried about the cursive as both the kids are learning cursive this year. You really think it would give the same end result as a lovely picture book? That's disappointing because I know she can't draw something by just looking at a picture in a picture book. She isn't THAT good an artist. Hmmm.

I saw this the other day and am thinking of using it ("Medieval - book 3) as our "art" program for next year in conjunction with SOTW II. My going-to-be first grader is our "artist" and loves to draw and color. I wouldn't do an art program at all, but I think she would really like it. Any comments on the actual use of it as a supplement to SOTW / another history program, or just as a stand alone book?

I had the notebook pages that are available on the Yahoo group files section printed and bound for very little $$. Knowing how little my kids used them, I wouldn't spend that money again. They would definitely not have used this journal. We do almost everything outloud because of my oldest's writing issues (she's "allergic" to pencils). That said, I love our SOTW Activity book with its coloring pages and map work.

This is what I like about ABeka (but you have to buy the Curriculum book to get the script)! Funny, though, another HS mom I know uses ABeka and said the Curriculum book (in this case, for math) was a waste of money. I'm a Professional Mechanical Engineer and I *really* like having the lessons ready for me to present, even if I don't do them exactly like they say to. Okay, that said, I had my oldest do Singapore 1A & 1B workbooks for "review" this summer. They weren't any big deal for her and she was glad to get back to her full-color ABeka worksheets this fall. I worked through Singapore Earlybird 1b & 2a with my next dd and she flew through. She wasn't ready for 2B (especially with how much they want them to recognize number words at that age), so I let her do some Singapore 1A stuff. She liked to color the pictures the best. :tongue_smilie: She's now working in Horizons K workbook 1 at the pace of two lessons per day. I'm going to start her on ABeka 1 when she's done with workbook 1. Having dabbled with others, I'm happy with ABeka. It has its issues, but my kids like the spiral learning and me teaching them. But, I want to stress, that is what is good for _us_. I think it really depends on your kids!! I have a new-to-HSing mom friend who has one kid in Singapore 1B and one in Horizons 3. She HATES Horizons and LOVES Singapore based on how her kids are reacting to their lessons. She didn't know it was going to be that way until she & the kids tried it. Sometimes, you just have to try it to find out. Neither Singapore or Horizons is very expensive if you just buy one workbook to see how the kid likes it. You can always add in the other stuff (TM, for example) when you've seen how the kids and you like it. Good luck!

I'm not sure Berquist would be of much help here. Her lower grade suggestions are very light on science and history. She hits math, language arts, and religion deeply but everything else seems a bit shallow, IMO. She has a one-size-fits-all approach to a lot of things. You know your kids better than to use her one-sized-fits-all curriculum. We use SOTW right now, but we are only in Year 1, so I'm not sure how much editing I'll have to do when we get to the Reformation. I plan on using some of Berquist's suggestions for down the road such as: "Christ the King - Lord of History" https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/396/keywords/history/ or "Christ and the America's" https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/632/keywords/history/ But my kids aren't old enough for that level yet. Something to keep in mind for the future, though. You can see in my sig what I do with my 5 1/2 (not reading yet) & 7 yr old. Good luck!