We used R&S 6 last year, too. This year, we are using Saxon Course 3 (not grade 3) with success. When I gave the Saxon placement test, he tested into 1/2, but I didn't want to do 1/2. I liked what I saw in the Saxon Course 3 much better and it was more visually appealing to me. You can download the entire text online (free). You have to purchase the solutions book. I also bought the physical text, and we mainly use that. Although my son is a good math student, he needs that large mixed review set that Saxon provides rather than large sets of the "new stuff," as R&S had. Why? Because he tends to rush through and not carefully consider what a problem is asking when they are all of the same type (although he did well with R&S and we used it to good purpose).

Everything in my signature, so far, is a hit. He doesn't *love* anything, but these are making him step it up a notch, which is exactly what I was going after 😉

Update for future readers of this thread :) I opted to skip R&S 6 and go straight into 7th. We have been at it for 3 weeks and it is going just fine. This route was chosen because there is more writing instruction in the 7th book, and I don't want another writing program but want English and writing integrated. So far, so good :), and I will update if anything changes as we work through the text.

We finished a similar program last year (Spelling Through Morphographs), and I've opted to use Spelling Power this year. Since ds has gone through all the rules, we really need to work on his particular trouble words. SP does this. I move a couple of words that he misses in his other curriculum onto his daily (short) list of words to study. For example, he spells body as "bodey", fifteen as "fifeteen", and finally as "finaly" so that was moved to his list to study. We are only a few weeks in, but so far I'm liking the individualized approach, especially since we finished a comprehensive program already. HTH!

We successfully completed the StM book last year (12 yo 6th grader) and it is certainly open-and-go and simple to implement. StM was excellent at teaching my ds rules he didn't naturally pick up (or hadn't been taught in ps). My ds is certainly a MUCH better speller now, though we aren't done with spelling. I've struggled with where to go after StM. With a young 9yo, I do think A&P would be appealing to me. Either way you go, you at least are working with a younger student than I was. I felt like an intense 1 year remediation was in order. You have time to work through several programs if you see the need to, and both of the ones you mention would be top on my list. I think either will be a winner. This was no help, huh?!? I'm feeling foggy, but wanted to offer up what I could since I may not get back to the forums (not too many StM users!)

Thank you, Emily and Reefgazer. Good idea, Emily, to have a back-up in case I stink at using the materials (even if not purchased, at least "picked out!"). Nice to know I'm not the only one. Reefgazer, this is so encouraging! Because, I *want* to be successful with it and I think DS would like it. I just really want the lessons all ordered with M-F explicit plans, so perhaps I need to do that before school starts. It is just so hard to guess what a good workload will be. Also, how many books I can get done for the year, etc. We are starting with Botany. Did you do the Level 2 assignments? (I really think that is what is throwing me, I can't get a handle on doing level 1 then 2, timewise). Did you do many activities? My guy isn't a crafty guy, but he likes games and will like watching the YouTube clips.

In your most honest opinion(s), would someone who struggled to implement TOPS science struggle to implement Ellen McHenry science materials? I need to be realistic, not idealistic. It seems as if I really need daily work completely spelled out for us, and I don't want to waste money and time on my "ideal" (McHenry botany and cells) if I'm unlikely to implement well. TIA!

I was hesitant to buy them at first because I had read that such guides were boring or not necessary. I quickly realized the lit guides were a favorite part of the day for us. Like another poster mentioned, I appreciated vocabulary being incorporated and did not have to have a separate vocab program. I'm short on time or I would offer up more, but did want to chime in to say they were a hit here.

We did R&S 5 this past year, and we almost always did all components (Class, Written, Review). A few times, we tried to skip Class, but then he would make errors on Written. Some lessons (usually the ones with correct usage, which were *easier* for ds, such as "teach vs learn" ) we would go through quickly and skip. On occasional lessons, usually long diagramming ones, I'd let him do even or odds only. If he missed anything, not only did he have to correct it, but had to do the "even" next to it. That was a motivator :)

We did the MP literature you mentioned this year, with my 6th grader. I found the reading level of the books to be just about right (and I'd consider his ability average). I loved the guides and feel they are very well done. Can't wait to do more. Adam of the Road was loved, too. The least liked was King Arthur, and I think it was because there were SO many characters to keep track of and the chapters were loooong. But, we really got a good immersion in Middle Ages through it, I felt, and the guides IMHO deepened our reading. As far as what to leave out, I can be of no help there.

Daily Subjects: -------------------- Grammar, Composition, & Spelling: R&S 7 Literature: MP 7 (Trojan War, Anne of Green Gables, Bronze Bow, Hobbit) Math: Dolciani PreA; Saxon 8/7 History: MP Online Academy, Middle School US History 3 days per week: ----------------------- Science: MP "Trees", Tiner "Biology" plus Ellen McHenry stuff for fun/hands on. 1 day per week each: ------------------------- Classical: Famous Men of Greece Geography: MP Geo.2 (1 day per week) Misc: --------------------- Computer: Typing Instructor......not sure how I will schedule this. MP Poetry for Grammar Stage, scheduled when it coincides with history, lit, science. LOVE this! Athletics at PS. 5 days/week

Yes, I know the shortcomings of ps grammar, and I consider these years as a golden opportunity to be sure he has a great base. Writing instruction in my ps is just as lacking (I have older dc). Therefore, I want to get ds through the writing component of R&S 8.

No, your experience is of great help. Mentioning that you bogged down in chapter two, but sailed through from there is great to know.

That is very helpful, Penguin. I'm leaning toward skipping 6 because I want more writing lessons.

We completed the R&S 5th book successfully in 6th grade (5th was chosen because ds came home from public school in 6th with no grammar under his belt). My rising 7th grader will transition back into ps for high school (9th), so I have two years left to lay a solid grammar/composition foundation. I won't be able to get him ready, IMHO, unless I skip a level. Otherwise, I'll be sending him to high school with only R&S 7th being completed (perhaps this is fine.) I really, really appreciate the skill build-up in R&S instead of asking students to make leaps on things they haven't been prepped for. So, skipping a level makes me a bit nervous; however, since we started a level lower, I feel we will need to do that. With all of that said: If you needed to skip 6, 7, or 8, which would it be? Keep in mind that the last level would indeed be the last solid grammar/comp he would get before college. (I'm not interested in other programs, as R&S delivers everything I'm looking for in one book. I like it. Ds likes it.).

I don't know why they schedule it like this either, but I believe that it goes like this now: 4th does Rome 5th does Middle Ages 6th does Greek (Greek Alphabet) along with US History

I would also advise you to go a different route than Spelling Workout. Apples &Pears (I know, weird name, but excellent program) has a great track record with dyslexics. It will require one-on-one for each lesson, but it is open and go with no prep time required.

Memoria Press Online Academy uses the Novare Physical Science text, and im hoping to go this route when my DS is in 8th or 9th.

kand, There is no diagnosis, but I have suspected mild dyslexia since he was 4. I taught him to read myself ahead of school because I knew he wouldn't get the right approach. All my others were natural good spellers, but this one has struggled somewhat. But, when he hadn't been taught at school using any comprehensive spelling program (and any spelling ended in third grade) how can I really pin it on a problem with my son? Wrong spelling was not frowned upon, so long as they got their thoughts out on paper. For my son, that was a license to not care....that appealed to him! So, I don't know if he is dyslexic, a poor speller, not taught doe so long, OR if his problem is rushing through things (personality) is at root. I did look at Megawords and *really* liked what I saw, but I would have no clue which book to get. You have to buy a placement booklet for $30ish dollars, and I'm not wanting to do that. Sweet Home Alabama, I will look into How to Teach Spelling...thanks for the suggestion!

My 6th grader will finish StM this year. Although it has helped his spelling *immensely,* he is not a student who can stop spelling instruction, IMO. First, let me explain that Spelling through Morphographs has 140 lessons, and is similar to Apples &Pears in that it is for older, remedial spellers. It focuses on teaching to spell by analyzing morphemes and with simple rules which are easy to remember and can be applied to tons of words. It is not a weekly spelling list. Prior, my son did not know rules at all (was in ps). I did not want an OG spelling approach (still don't ). With that said, although he *can* spell words such as ----promotion, completely, resumed, puzzling, detection, invention, wolves, etc., He still has trouble with words such as ------ together (togather), body (bodey), sugar (sugur), alcohol (achahol), earlier (errlier), obviously (oviosly), meant (ment) I don't know what for purchase for next year. I would like something that only deals with what he doesn't know how to spell rather than a wb "weekly list" approach where he knows half of them already. StM was teacher dependent, but not intensive because it was open and go. For next year I'd like more independence for ds, but that isn't an absolute necessity. Maybe I should go with making lists of words he spells wrong and have him practice those. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Rewards Intermediate (Sopris West). http://www.voyagersopris.com/curriculum/subject/literacy/rewards/samples Edited to add: works on reading multisyllabic words and fluency. Perfect for the age you mentioned. A friend of mine used it with her struggler and saw steady, immediate results.

Sure....here you go: https://mpoacm.memoriapress.com/catalog?pagename=ms-us-history

I signed my son up for the online Memoria Press US History. It will use the text Aime linked to plus a few other sources. The class will meet live once per week and have essays due roughly every two weeks, online quizzes, reading of primary sources, etc. I believe it will cover beginning to modern in one year. My son isn't an avid reader, and this will be good because there are no historical fiction books assigned as go-alongs. I'm expecting it to be 30-45 minutes per day. HTH!

My vote is to do the Killgallon paragraphs book to get you through to the end of the year, as you mentioned. Then, you might consider WWS again, possibly at half speed? I understand about the tediousness of it. We, too, started it in 6th and had to put it aside for now. I went to the Killgallon book 4 times a week, and Creative Writer 1 on Fridays (he likes to write creatively, too). I do plan to get back to WWS, because I think it will be great for my ds; however, we will go at a relaxed pace when we resume.

First list is set, but the second is up in the air. ----- Math:PreAlgebra~ Wilson Hill Academy (Dolciani text) Geography: Memoria Press GeographyII (finishing Geography I now) History: Memoria~US History (Guerber text); Famous Men of Greece English: R&S 6 (finishing 5 now) Literature: MP gr7 (Hobbit, Bronze Bow, AnneGrGables, Trojan War) ------ Writing: ? (Killgallon MS Paragraph, CreativeWriter(Fridays) + the included R&S writing?) Or (WWS1 half speed---we are on lesson 4 now, + Killgallon) Spelling: ? (much better,but still needs it). Looking for program with roots study. Science: ? (Tiner books? Apologia General?) This really helps to write this out.