We were fortunate that no one in either family gave us grief over our decision. In fact, all parties seemed to be very supportive. Having said that, it could be that they aren't totally on board and have left their opinions to themselves, which is fine by me! I think it's great that your MIL has decided not to talk about it, especially considering she is against it. HS'ing is very new to people of all ages even though it's been done for years. I find most people are against hs'ing because they don't know enough or understand how it works. Also, people tend to have an idea or picture of what hs'ing looks like (we were guilty of this) and how the children will turn out. But in the end, how you raise your children is YOUR decision and unless you are endangering your children, everyone else needs to stay out of it!

:iagree:

My lefty has been using HWOT for 3 yrs now and loves it! I wasn't crazy about the look of their writing, especially the cursive, but I decided it was more important for dd to have a program that was geared for lefties. Besides, most people create their own style of writing no matter the style taught.

The 'M&M' are the initials of my children...

We love it too! My dd excelled in reading but constantly asked how to spell words but not long after starting AAS I noticed she wasn't asking as much. Now when she asks she is asking me if she is right instead of wanting me to give her the word. AAS is a wonderful program!

We do 2 steps/week...the first day of a step we will spend about 20 minutes...the 2nd day is review so it doesn't take as long...I love this program and so does dd.

My dd struggles with summarizing the passages sometimes, too. Do you read the selections to her or have her read them to herself or out loud? Mine usually reads them to herself so I require that she read through them twice. We are on WWE 3 and a few weeks ago they took away the comprehension questions and she has to summarize it on her own. I have found talking about it with her, not asking questions, but just have her talk about it, helps her to come up with her summary. Sorry you have had such a struggle. I hope you find a better fit for next year!

AAS does teach phonics and all the spelling rules. No matter the age of the student they suggest starting with Level 1. You will need the teachers manual and student material packet. I'm not familiar with TYCTR100EZ but I used OPGTR and it fit just fine. In fact, my daughter was an advanced reader when I started AAS and she LOVES it. I love it because it is teaching her to spell correctly through phonics and the rules instead of memorizing lists of words each week as some programs do. It is a little pricey but IMO worth the money. Also, they resell quickly and easily.

I started the Shred last week and I'm only doing it 3 times/week. I wondered the same thing about doing it daily but considering I am not a motivated exerciser (word?), I figured some was better than none!!! I was sore after the first day but it eased up and I couldn't believe how much easier it was today! I'm not so concerned with losing weight but with toning, gaining flexibility and helping my overall health. I was encouraged by the other posters so thanks for posting your question! Good luck!

:iagree:

I pulled out my old Yahtzee game and showed my kids how to play. It teaches them to strategize and to count multiple numbers. It says for ages 8+ but my 6 yr old can play it with minimal help but math is his strong suit. We have the Scrambled States and Great States. My dd loves these.

I use HWOT with my lefty and RFH for my righty and like both of them. I agree with your opinion on HWOT's cursive but I decided that it was more important for her to have a program that worked well for a lefty and she would develop her own way. (My cursive doesn't look like what I was taught in 3rd grade but it is neat, which IMO is the most important.) RFH is my favorite because the writing practice daily is short and at the end of the week the child writes a bible verse on border paper that they can color. My ds loves to give these away as gifts to others. Having said all that, have you tried doing some fun activities for handwriting practice instead of worksheets? Using shaving cream on a large cookie sheet that your child can practice hw? This could also be done with play-doh or rice/beans.

I used SL 1 for dd in our first year of homeschooling then switched to TOG yr 2 the next year. I loved SL but felt like my dd needed something with a little more. Switching to TOG was easy since SL 1 was similar to Yr 1 of TOG. One thing to keep in mind with TOG, you can do as much or as little as you like from their schedule suggestions. We do not do all the things listed but I pick and chose what we do. Good luck!

My dd is also a very good reader but constantly asked me how to spell words. Dd did not learn to read via a phonics program but we did do some phonics workbooks before starting AAS 1 in 2nd grade. She loves the tiles and writing on the white board. The lessons are short, teach the spelling rules and also goes over phonics. No matter what grade they recommend starting with level 1 and go at the speed that is right for your child. We are now in book 4 and loving it! Good luck!

I started my 3rd grader with LFC A this year and she loves it. I think it would work fine using it with both children.

We started out with SM in 1st grade and it left us both in tears and frustrated. It just didn't work for my dd. After a couple of months we moved to R&S and haven't looked back. Math is now one of her favorite subjects. I started my K in R&S math this year and he's doing great. Good luck!

We have used this curriculum going on 2 years now and love it. We started with Heaven and Earth and are using the Life series this year. In looking ahead for next year, I am wondering about the difficulty of the Chemistry and Physics curriculum. My kids will be in 4th and 1st grade next year and I want to teach from one curriculum. My youngest participates in Science now and learns it very easily. I am looking for other's opinions on how the Chemistry and Physics compare in difficulty to the Heaven/Earth and Life. Thanks!

We are finishing up the FLL 1/2 book and AAS level 2 (level 1 was done earlier in the year) and my dd LOVES it, as do I! The lessons are scripted, easy to do and don't take a lot of time. We will be adding WWE this coming year since I felt dd needed to get a good handle on spelling and grammar before trying to get her to write (she had an aversion to it so I didn't push). One of the last lessons in FLL 1/2 had her write a composition and she did great.

We love FLL 1/2! We are in year 2 and my daughter loves it and even my 5 year old has retained a lot of the memory work just by being in the same room. It is very easy to use, cheap, isn't time consuming and most importantly, they retain what they are being taught (at least in my case).

We are using TOG Yr 2 this year. DD is a 2nd grader and we are doing the lapbooks. I definitely would not suggest using it for a 1st grader unless they like copy work or writing. Don't get me wrong, dd and I both like doing it...I just think it would have been too much for 1st grade. We are on the 2nd year of FLL and we both love it! The lessons are easy to do and are not time consuming. The memory work is easy and effortless, at least for both my kids (my 5 yr old has memorized lots too just by being in the same room while I was teaching!) I definitely recommend FLL! I purchased WA but have only used it a few times. Writing doesn't seem to flow easily for dd and it just seems logical to teach the basics of grammar first.

My preschooler does 2 pgs/day and I feel that we are moving along at a nice pace since we do school 4-5 days/week.

Bought a Practice Makes Perfect map skills books on a whim at a hs conference...dd loves it... http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1253582885-1521752&subject=14&category=4695

We only use the workbooks. I started in 1st grade w/ my dd and we occassionally used a chalk board for the wet/dry/try method but found my younger son benefited from it more than dd.

My daughter learned the states around K as an accident, meaning, I didn't plan it or orchestrate it. We had read the book "Scrambled States of America" and then I bought the game that goes along with it on E-bay. We also had the magnetic board of the USA that I quizzed her on as she put it together. The game "Great States" is another good one too. After playing around for a while I realized how she was retaining not just the state names and where they were but also the capitals. Make it fun and enjoy learning!

First year w/ TOG...yr 2 and loving it!