Thanks everybody! I think I'll stick with PR then. Also, I was helping my DD spell some words this morning and we listened to the words and followed the rules from PR and she managed to do the correct spelling by herself. For us that is a big leap forward.

Usborne books also has some very nice early readers. My daughter loved them.

I have another question about PR 3. Do you add a writing program or is that not necessary? And if yes, which program did you add? I assume with PR 3 you don't need anything else.

Thanks!

My son is 4.5 and we are alternating MUS Primer and RightStart A. He likes both. We don't do an entire RightStart lesson every time, depends on how long his concentration lasts that day. He likes watching the MUS DVD's.

How do you use 2 levels of PR at the same time? I will probably do PR 1 eventually with my son, and if I continue with PR with my daughter, they will be doing two different levels at the same time.

Thanks! What level of PR are you using? And do you plan to continue with the Latin Road program?

My DD is 7 and in Gr 2. We are currently using PR 2 and I really like the program. I'm looking into programs for next year and I like the look of the new VIE grammar/writing books. Is anybody using the new VIE 3 that can tell me what they think about it? The same for PR 3. Obviously I would have to add some extra work to VIE that I don't need to add for PR. I like that PR does everything and I also like the book study included in the program. On the other hand, I think the VIE books will be more interesting for my DD and I also think she likes it better when we work from different books, instead of one for everything. It breaks it up a bit and every book presents things a little bit differently. Reason I might want to stay with PR is because I think it is worthwile to stay with one program and see it through to the end, because then you get the whole benefit of it. Again, on the other hand, if we start VIE 3 next year we can continue using that program through to the end as well. If we switch to VIE I plan to add Sequential Spelling, WWE and Gr3 level readers. I'm still deciding on a writing program. We are using WWW at the moment. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

We also use Singapore with RS B. A while ago we started playing a different game every day. And that seems to help a lot in cementing the basic math facts. I also find it helps to switch between the two curricula, because she gets a bit resentful of doing the same thing every day. We still use the abacus, although I am encouraging her to try to find the answer in her head first. We have some very frustrating math days. It would probably do us some good to slow down a bit and go back to some earlier lessons. I'm a bit paranoid about getting everything done for the right grade level (she's grade 2), so sometimes I tend to want to go faster through things.

We like dreambox.com. It's a subscription site.

My daughter is Gr 2 and we are also in Level B. I also think it's more important to make sure they know one thing before moving on to more difficult concepts.

My dd (7) likes artsy things, so we have come up with a project for creative writing. She is going to plan and write her own puppet show. Part of it would be to create the characters and describe the setting, then make an outline of beginning, middle & end of the story. Then we'll make the puppets (using cardboard and sticks) and finally make the set with a big box. Then she and her brother can act out their puppet show and I will tape it with my camera. It's a little bit different than just writing a creative piece, but in the whole process she will learn a lot about planning a story. And it will incorporate a lot of art work as well. We haven't started it yet, but she is very excited about it.

I have a related question. I use PR L2 with my dd (she's 7) and it's going great, I love the program. At some point when my son is ready, i want to start him with PR 1. Do any of you use 2 different levels of PR at the same time with 2 kids (like L3 for 1 child and L1 for another)? How do you manage it? I don't mind that the program is teacher intensive, I'm just wondering how to best manage my time when I have to teach 2 levels.

Five-in-a-row or maybe Before-five-in-a-row are also good options for little kids. They have great books to read with lots of suggestions for activities based on those books. It can take as much or as little time as you want.