The question in the title tells it all. My oldest is in ps, my middle two are extremely bright/gifted and it was obvious that they would do better at home. My youngest is bright (above average, but not off the charts), but not as academically inclined so far (she's nearly 6). There are pros and cons to both homeschooling her and having her go to ps, but I'm trying to figure out the definitive factor that might make the choice obvious to me. I'd welcome opinions, experience or thoughts on the matter. TIA,

I'm not sure what you are specifically referring to, but I don't like any bashing. I was reading recently (in a Catholic book) that the Catholic church was special because they are the *only* ones who follow Jesus Christ. Um...I can name many churches who claim to and do follow Jesus. Unfortunately the intolerance exists both ways. I think we'd all be better if we followed the second greatest commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Mt 22:39

We used Basic Not Boring Math for Middle School work book to shore up math skills before Algebra. Back in those days (a couple of years ago) Fred didn't have Pre-Alg books. He spent several months going through that book and really enjoyed it. It does not tell you HOW to do the problems. I felt it was great review because the book did not offer review---just practice. I remember quite a bit of the topics/backdrop was sports. If your dd isn't into sports this may not be the best choice. We started Fred Algebra that in Feb of that school year, but found there was not enough practice. He enjoys Teaching Textbooks with Life of Fred.

When ds was working on Saxon 3 in third grade I wondered where we'd be down the road. It's worked out beautifully! He does a lot of math (right now he's doing TT Geo and Life of Fred Geo @ 6th grade). He's studied prob & stats, problem solving, logic problems, tested for the Math Olympiad and other interesting things. I was not in a rush to get him through curric and it's worked out very well so far. Think breadth and depth, not just length of the subjects. He may take classes at community college early, but it may not happen. We'll see. The longer I homeschool and parent the more I realize all of that much of my thinking, planning, hoping, worrying was really a waste of time. When the time comes upon you, you usually know what to do. [i don't mean we shouldn't give these topics some thought, but don't waste your time planning it all out. You never know!] HTH,

Shame on you, Trina! We were a perfectly normal (debatable) family and now we're all addicted to Red Remover. It's very cool! DD loves the Challenge Mode, but I need to see the whole picture. Thanks so much!

I liked some things about them...the picture study, some of the poems, the short lessons, etc. I really didn't a few of the longer poetry copywork choices. The wording was archaic. I realize that it's good to expose children to poetry and writing from other centuries, I don't see the benefit for them to spend 2 weeks copying verses to a poem that doesn't use English as we do. I feel youngsters should be comfortable with modern English before spending so much time copying such old poems. Naturally, some folks probably think that's wonderful and that's all right with me. I just wanted to alert you to what I didn't like about the program.

We have used it and loved it. I agree, it does not encourage mental math. I do not like the TM so I've never used it, but if you did it probably helps you to explain the concepts. I think it covers a lot of material, though. There is just enough practice and new items along w/math puzzles that hold the kids' interest. I've never found a program I like better. I've used it with Life of Fred and Challenge Math (not all at once).

I guess I'm the odd one out here. We alternate Fred w/Horizons (younger) or TT (older). For my 9 yr old we do a "unit" of Fred (to a bridge) then 10 lessons of Horizons. For Geometry I set up the Fred chapters to go along with the TT topics. It's not a perfect fit, but it's working. Some days the kids will do lessons in both books. Really, you could do it any way you want. :D

We've been using the El and MS Challenge Math with an 8-9 yr old dd w/no problem. She's a year or so ahead in math. If you and dd come across anything that she doesn't understand, it would be a perfect teaching moment, imo. Most of the topics are written about, but perhaps not enough for full understanding if it's one's first encounter with it. We found most topics built upon what she knew, taking her a step or two further. The book is set up w/a chapter followed by three levels of word problems. My dd was not ready for Einstein level (most challenging) and had difficulty with a few problems on level 2, but enjoyed level 1 and level 2. I have not seen Primary Math, but I would think the next book would be a good fit. It was for us.

I'm doing the same thing. I'll be using http://rainbowresource.com/product/sku/044565/1302299828-1665632 Joy Hakim's science book. FTR, I'm not a fan of Joy Hakim, but this book looks really cool! THere is also a teacher's guide and a student guide. I'm not sure if I will get both of those (hopefully someone who has used it can advise both of us.) HTH,

I have not used SL, but have used other lit programs and I have SL ready for the fall. I think that doing 3 or 4 cores w/a baby is going to lead to frustration. You should check out the parent involvement time listed on the SL website for each core. If it were me, I would probably try to get something that they could all use on their own level, like Core D. My library has many, many easy readers about American history that could work for your 7 yr old. I find it's easy to add in when you already have a program that gives me the timeline and topic. You could drop some books for the 9 yr old if he's struggling. If not, I would have 12 yr old has his own and combine the 7 &9 yr olds. You could drop some of the books for the 7 yr old or just have him listen to the read alouds and use easy readers from the library. I would not purchase a curric for the younger one, but just teach as things come up. I've never used them, but SL has curriculum advisors to phone and an automated one online. Either of them might be able to help you. Please don't buy 4 cores! :)

The longer you homeschool the more you recognize what will fit, what won't fit and what looks so tempting, but is a bad match. lol I find good customer reviews invaluable. Post it on a forum or research one of the hs reviews websites. You can learn a lot even if they person didnt' like it (too much hands on, goes to fast, too much practice, too much teacher prep, etc.) All of these comments can help you decide and tell you a bit more than the publisher can. I also have asked my local hs friends if they have a curric that I can borrow for a couple of days. I love to spend an hour perusing the pages to get a feel for how it works. I've also preinted off samples for some programs. Conventions are also helpful to touch, read and smell the books and speak to a rep. Don't get caught into thinking the perfect thing is out there. It probably isn't. You will find something that is very good and will either tweak it or not, but be quite satisfied. Breathe! :o)

I was able to cross quite a few items off of my RR wishlist this month. There is some good stuff out there! In the meantime....hang in there!

We blew through Island w/my 8 yr old, too. It was just so much fun! I decided to begin the Town level. There are many writing exercises so that makes it a bit tougher for some. The vocab is much harder, too. Grammar Town had quite a bit of review, but did take things to the next level (clauses and phrases). We will finish both Island and Town (not including Caesar's English) this school year. I'm not sure if we'll be ready for the Voyage series so we'll have to play that by ear. I just wanted to encourage you to continue w/MCT because it's not *that much harder (just expensive!)

I tried using Mystery of History alongside SOTW. I will say that it was a bit much for my early el ds so we dropped one. Perhaps you could add it in just for church history and not for every lesson. Here is a sched for SOTW and MOH http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/sotwmoh.htm

I have one like that! Mine really needs to know she's OK. I've spent a lot of time walking her through "problems" in life so she can see that "failure isn't fatal" (I like that!). I've often asked, "What's the worst thing that could happen? Even if you got those 3 problems wrong, what's the worst that would happen?" Mine seemed to be carrying a lot of baggage. EAch time she made a mistake it brought back every other mistake she had made as well as the PAIN of those mistakes. I've found mine didn't respond to too much sympathy or to walking away (although I've done both of these), but to a heartfelt "You can do this!" pep talk. I hope you find something that works!

We skipped Horizons 5 w/no difficulty. I don't think Horizons 4 offers any more than Life of Fred, except the opportunity to practice those skills. Have him take the Horizons 5 placement test and see how he does and if he missed anything. That should be some indicator. I have mathy kids and it's my goal to be sure they get enough practice w/o killing them. lol I try very hard to strike the balance so they are competent at arithmetic AND high level math. As long as you keep that in mind I think you should follow his lead. Best of luck!

DS will be using SL Core 6 (Anc + Med history). I'm having dds 9 & 6 use SOTW with the activity guide. We work on history 4x/week. Should we try to complete SOTW 1 & 2 this year or will that be too much? I think the AG will be a big hit with both kids and they love listening to me read. What do you think? TIA

I will be using it, too, but I'm more anxious than excited. I tried it w/ds and neither of us liked it. I'm having another go with it for my girls and I think/hope it will work well. I hope it's as wonderful as you dreamed it would be!

Absolutely move him up! :o) I've not used the Primary, but the upper el/MS one is not too advanced at all for that age. I second the use of Life of Fred. Enjoy!

We enjoyed www.the-simple-homeschool.com Middle School Physics. It has text, videos, cool physics software to play with and suggestions for some physical experiments. The kids completed it in about half a year. It's not a passive science class.

Life of Fred actually goes deeper and broader. Have you considered Key to....decimals? That might help.

I'm so happy to see so many folks enjoying Horizons Math! Horizons Math Life of Fred Character Quality Language Arts www.tfths.com We have tried so many curricula. Some we have used for a couple of years, others just for one year. It seems hard to find items that are awesome both on the elementary level AND upper levels.

I think AG is an excellent grammar program. Although it is not perfect, it explains things clearly and provides plenty of practice, if needed. If not needed, the student is encouraged to skip that lesson and proceed to the test. I loved that it took us a year and a half and then we were done and not re-hashing what a verb is for years on end! :tongue_smilie:

I loved Noeo level I. We have used all three level II, but it is a lot of notebooking encyclopedias which can be quite dull week after week. I'm not sure it's worth the price. We are going to use SL in the fall so I can't comment about that yet except that there are specific questions related to the readings. Many of these are open-ended and I think that is the best way to learn. I hope you get more info from someone who has tried both.