Those are valid questions. I have two kids in CLE Math and LA now. We are completing our second year with it. CLE Math breaks concepts down into such small bits in each lesson that my kids seem to get it. That being said, if you went to the 5th Light Unit and opened it to the 10th lesson, you might not get it because you hadn't read all the little explanatory bits that came before. I would recommend just buying the first Light Unit for Math in the same level that you are in for LA and having your child do the first lesson or two. They are so inexpensive that it's not painful to do it. You may even want to buy a few different levels of '01 Light Units. The '01 Light Units are mostly reviews of the level before. Regarding the length of the lessons, once I see that my child can do certain types of review problems well, I cross out the repetitive ones of that type. However, I do think that math is one of those subjects where the child just has to do the problems over and over before he/she can do the problem reliably on any type of test. I've seen my dd do a problem and get it right without much trouble, then crossed out that type of problem for the next few lessons. Then I've gotten an ugly surprise on the next quiz because she didn't remember how to do it, which meant she never really, really knew it...not enough repetition.

I didn't mention this in my other post. My kids are 5th and 2nd grade.

We use The Learnables. We have been using for about 4 months now and the kids don't mind it. They seem to be picking it up fairly quickly. You just listen to a lesson on a CD and follow along in a picture book as the voice on the CD tells you what the pictures are. I hear it's similar to Rosetta Stone's idea of learning a new language without seeing the words, at least in the beginning. I got mine off ebay and it wasn't too expensive.

I started using them this year with both kids. I would think that they would help with test taking skills. The instructions are worded like they are in standardized tests. The problems definitely require the student to think in a new way because they aren't like their other problems in math books, etc. For example, one page will show four or five shapes and the student has to tell how many right angles each shape has or how many lines in each shape are the same length. Nothing too hard, just not often asked.

I use one with my dd7. She reads one story to me every day. It helps her practice when to pause and exposes her to new words and ways of stating things.

I just bought the ebook version of History Odyssey. I am still waiting for some of the required materials to come in. I noticed in some of the lessons, it refers to specific maps by number ("Color map 11"). Where are the maps? Are they in one of the required resources? I'm starting to wonder if the maps are in History Odyssey book but didn't make it into the ebook version. Thanks. Johnna

I just switched my 5th and 2nd graders to R&S Math and English. In general, I use R&S because the TMs are very detailed and easy to follow, the concepts presented rapidly progress toward full understanding (I can see where they are headed and they get there without a lot of fanfare), the lessons aren't too long or too short, and the lessons are organized in such a way that it is easy for me to skip concepts that they already know. That was difficult for me to do with Saxon Math, which was one of the big reasons I switched. English: For the 2nd grader, the lessons are just the right length and the topics interest her. Each lesson builds on the last without being excessively repetitive. My 5th grader likes R&S English because it has regular writing assignments. It also has oral exercises that can be done on the whiteboard, which she tunes into more than just me talking or paperwork. I love the fact that 5th graders learn to diagram sentences. It seemed so useless to me when I was in school, but now I see how much it helps you get your head around the structure of a sentence and the parts of speech. Math: The 2nd grader loves the little pictures that the TM tells you draw on the board (lilies, bees, etc.). I chuckled when I read the other posting that mentioned this because I thought the dd would hate them, too. She eats it up. They have a couple of pages of worksheets front and back for each lesson. You can pare them down as needed but it is good to have them for extra practice in certain lessons. The lessons flow at about the right speed for her. They are very down to earth, basic skills. I get the sense that we are really making progress with this program. I did not get that sense with the last program. It's hard to describe, but it just seems more concrete. I haven't received the 5th grade editions yet, so I can't add anything about them. I buy from http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/. They have been timely and professional.

The pdf is great. I will print it and keep it handy. Thanks!

Thanks. It seems like the Kingfisher encyclopedia has names that aren't in the SOTW1 Activity Guide. The ones in particular that I was looking for were Mentuhotep and Senwosret. Those are the pharaohs. The god's names I need help with are Re-Horakhty and Ptah, which looks similar to the sound I make if I bite into an anchovy on my pizza. I can't wait to hear how that one's pronounced. Thanks again.

Has anyone found a good resource for pronounciation of Ancient Egyptian pharaoh names? We are using The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. I keep thinking it should be in there but I don't see it. Thanks for your help.

With all these suggestions, I'm not worried anymore. I will jot down all your ideas and start preparing. There was a lot mentioned that I hadn't even considered (other school kids thinking it was cool, guarding against pushing too hard in the first year, framing it as a "get to do", containing them in a paddle boat was it? Hee!). I loved reading about what you did and how it worked. Thank you! You've helped me immensely.

This is a little nerve-wracking. It's my first post. :) After months of research and soul searching, we've decided to take our two daughters, 10 and 7, out of private school at the end of this school year to homeschool them. They don't know this yet. They can't stay at the school after this year because we can no longer afford it. Really, we are less and less pleased with the school anyway. We don't want to send them to the public school. Dd10 has asked a few questions about homeschooling because someone in her class has a sibling that is homeschooled. I asked her opinion of it. She said she thought it sounded interesting, which is a good sign. Dd7 has no idea. I'm not quite sure how or when to go about talking with them about this. I want to tell them about it in time for them to soak it in and tell their friends before school is out for the summer. But my 7 year old is a worrier and I want to minimize her fretting time. Can anyone suggest some ways to handle this? Thank you.