Verse 8 says that "He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the strike was due" If (as you say) the "He" in this passage refers to the people of Israel, then to whom does the "my people" refer? Anyway, you really think that Jews have borne the Gentiles grief, carried our sorrows, been pierced for our transgressions, been crushed for our iniquities, been chastened for our well-being, been scourged for our healing, been rendered as a guilt offering, and borne our iniquities and sin. Really?

I can't tell you what to do, but I am another Horizons fan. There is plenty of conceptual instruction and use of manipulatives if one uses the TM. There is also a lot of drill as instructed in the TM which helps cement the lessons much better than just using the workbooks alone. I prefer the spiral approach because I want my kids to get a lot of review to make sure that they are maintaining their knowledge and skills throughout the year. Supplementing with another program is a good idea, though, if it helps you teach the concepts better. I hope you find what works best for you.

I think all of you should read Isaiah 53. It is the part that starts with, "Who has believed our message..."

100 EZ Lessons was fantastic for all three of my kids. My youngest started at 3.5 and finished the whole book shortly after she turned four. I also did a time limit (10-15 minutes per day) rather than one whole lesson per day so that it was fun rather than a burden.

I agree with some of the comments that it is probably a maturity issue. My 8y.o. son also reads at about 4th or 5th grade level, but he doesn't understand the deeper meanings either. When he reads to me out loud, I periodically ask him if he is comprehending. Often I find that he misses ideas because they are things he has never heard of or experienced. I think explaining as we go along will develop understanding, but it will also probably just take time. I think using some materials for analyzing literature can be helpful at this age, and I am also looking into using some for third grade. However I wouldn't overdo the analysis with every book he reads. Hope you find something you like.

Yes, that is right! The most useful books I have found so far for making curricula choices are by Cathy Duffy (100 Top Picks, etc.) which I checked out from the library. Since there is so much available, I appreciate her choices as a good starting place for my research. I like to make a plan for the next year, and then I go to a homeschool convention where I can look at the books before I buy them.

Home School Reviews has reviews by category, including a language arts section. The list is probably not absolutely complete, but it usually has all of the major publishers and programs listed. http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/reviews/category.aspx?id=33 I haven't found a "language arts" curriculum from one specific publisher that I like, so I have been putting together my own. Here is my plan for 3rd grade next year if you are interested. It sounds like a lot, but it doesn't take as long as it looks. The +/- choices are new things that I am planning to try for next year. Reading: choices from SL, VP, and +/- HOD Reading comprehension and Thinking Skills: +/- VP literatures guides for some of the books, Critical Thinking workbook grade 3 (Steck-Vaughn), WWE2 (finish) and then start on WWE3 Spelling: Spelling Power Vocabulary: Wordly Wise 3000 grade 3, +/- Dynamic Literacy Wordbuild Grammar: Rod and Staff grade 3 Writing/Composition: IEW SWI-level A Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting (level C) Literature (my dh and I reading to our kids): selections from Honey for a Child's Heart and All Through the Ages: History and Literature Guide

I used a pack of index cards and made one stack of addition math facts up to sum of 18 with answers on the back, and a stack of the corresponding subtraction math facts. On most weekdays I go through one of the stacks with my son to test him, alternating the addition and substraction, shuffling them periodically. After about a year, he finally has them down. I tried some computer games, but nothing else seemed to stick except the regular flashcard practice. Boys also respond well to competition, so we try to incorporate that. For example, if it takes too many seconds for my son to think of the answer, I will try to say the answer first and "steal" that card. After we are finished with the stack, I give him a chance to steal all of my cards back which he enjoys immensely (and which helps him learn the more difficult cards better). I'm sorry that sounds so boring, but it was the only way I have been able to get him to learn his math facts well, and I'm happy that we have done it.

I have used SL readers, and I loved most of their choices for 2nd grade advanced readers. I am also planning to look at Veritas Press including their literature guides, though I haven't used any of those yet.

I might set a time limit for the math worksheet. Whatever she doesn't get done in the specified time limit has to be done for "homework," as in the afternoon free time. This always works for my kids since they equate "homework" as an idea similar to water boarding.

Spelling Power is great for us. I like the rules and the practice method they have developed based on research. I also like that it is one book for all my kids from 1st grade up to high school level. I can progress as quickly or slowly as I need for each of my kids. We are getting great results, including review of phonics (since it covers spelling rules). We are using Wordly Wise for vocabular, but I don't love it. My son hasn't been retaining as much as I had hoped. However, I do like the multiple choice exercise at the beginning of each lesson because it teaches valuable skills. I think we need something more systematic and sequential ( such as Dynamic Literacy WordBuild). I am looking at getting that for next year to combine with the the parts of Wordly Wise that I like.

Reviewing in math is very important IMO. I would continue the review if I were you at least to some extent, though you don't have to necessarily do all of the problems if there are an excessive amount.

I am not familiar with BJU math, but I love Horizons math partly because it doesn't have the problems you mentioned. It is very thorough and advanced, but it doesn't beat anything to death. I spend about 15 minutes on the drill and on teaching concepts with my second grader, and it takes him about another 30 minutes to complete the 2-sided worksheet which contains both practice of the new concepts as well as review. If a student can do 7 or 10 problems of a certain type correctly, there is no reason for him to do another 30 or 40 more problems of the same type, which is common in some of the math programs.

I am doing the same plan with some Singapore workbooks to supplement Horizons. Which workbooks would you recommend from Singapore? I have been looking at the "Challenging Word Problems" workbooks and maybe the "Extra Practice" workbooks. Any other suggestions?

I use the Horizons TM every day, and I have to disagree with the quote above. For a person who actually reads the TM and follows the instructions, there is a good amount of concept teaching and use of manipulatives. We spend about a quarter to half of the lesson doing drills and using the white board and manipulatives to teach new concepts and review old ones according to the instructions in the TM. I have read a lot of criticism of this math curriculum from people who don't use or who have never even read the TM. That is curious to me.

One more thing--I just remembered that SL has a reading placement test on their website, or at least they did last year. You have your child read a progressive list of different things, and then it tells you what SL reading level is appropriate.

I used 100 EZ lessons with all three of my kids. There is a list of books to read and new words to learn for each book at the end of 100 EZ Lessons. You don't have to do all of them. I checked out as many as I could find at the library, and we practiced reading "real" books. That was a great acheivement for my kids when they graduated from 100 EZ lessons to be able to read an actual book! At first they didn't believe they would be able to read them, so it was an exciting development. As for our specific reading progression after we finished 100 EZ Lessons and some of the books on the beginning of the list at the back, we started with all of the Dr. Seuss books I could find (like Cat in the Hat, Red Fish Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, etc). Then I had them read Little Bear books (A Kiss for Little Bear and others) and Mr. Putter books. After those, we went with the Henry and Mudge series. After those, we went with the Nate the Great series. After that, my daughter really took off and got into reading the Magic Treehouse books. I think at this point, I would say they are somewhere in the second grade reading level (maybe 2.5). My son did SL grade 2 advanced readers this year as a second grader, and I thought they were tough for him, even though I think he is higher than a second grade reading level. You could check out some of those titles from the library to see if your child could read them successfully. As for the rest of LA for Kindergarten, my focus is on writing the letters properly, upper and lower case. We do some other writing, such as they write a sentence they make up (with me telling them how to spell it) and draw a picture to go with it (as for a journal). I also have them practice writing numbers and do K level math (we use Horizons). I also make sure to ask comprehension questions when we are doing our reading (similary to 100 EZ). Personally, I wouldn't start WWE or other grammar work or spelling until first grade (though I haven't used WWE1 yet). Maybe you could start WWE1 and go slowly. I use R&S grammar rather than FLL, so I can't comment on that. I use Spelling Power for spelling, which I really like. It is one book for all of my kids, at whatever level they are, all the way up to high school. I also like their practice method because it seems to be based on a lot of research for how to teach spelling, and it has been effective for us. HTH!

I like WWE2 so far (we started it this year with my second grader). However, I think we need more writing than that in elementary years. I have used a couple of Evan-Moor workbooks this year which are helpful, particulary How to Write a Story. I am going to continue with WWE3 after we finish WWE2, but I am also planning to shell out the big bucks next year for IEW for 3rd grade. I really enjoyed reading Any Child Can Write by Harvey S. Wiener. It provides a different perspective on teaching writing which I found helpful. There is so much practical instruction in that book about how to teach your kids to write, even starting in preschool. At first, I was solely using this book for teaching writing, and we completed many useful lessons. I will continue to use this book, although I am going to get IEW next year since I do better teaching from a more structured program. Just some thoughts...

I started with WWE2 mid-year year with my second grader (without have done WWE1), and he is doing fine with it.

I love Cathy Duffy's review, especially her 100 Top Picks. She and I think alike, so maybe that is why I find her stuff so useful. Pp's are right in that if you want to find the negative side of the curricula, you need to go to a forum like this. I often use Cathy Duffy's books to make a preliminary plan. Then I try to find all of the negative reviews on forums to see what people didn't like about something before I buy it. I try to see if their reasons for not liking something would be the same as my reasons for not liking something. Sometimes people don't like things just because they are workbooks or because they are advanced or other reasons like that, not because the program is bad.

Here is my list for my 2nd grader this year. We are really enjoying our year, and I love my curriculum. I am keeping most things the same, though I am probably going to change vocabulary to something different for 3rd grade because my son hates Wordly Wise and isn't retaining much. Reading: Sonlight Advanced 2 Reader list Vocabulary: Wordly Wise 3000, grade 2 (going to change this next year as above) Spelling Power Rod and Staff English WWE 2 Evan Moor Workbooks for writing (How to Write a Story grades 1-3, How to Write a Report grades 1-2) Critical Thinking workbook (Steck-Vaughn) Literature selections from Honey for a Child's Heart Math: Horizons 2 Science: BFSU (love it!) Geography: A Child's Geography of the World (Hillyer--out of print book) World History: CHOW American History: A First Book in American History, and Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans (Edward Eggleston) State history workbook Art: Drawing With Children (Brookes) Music: Ready to Use Music Reading Activities Kit Computer: www.abcya.com, dance mat typing program, some typing on Word and drawing on Paint German: free language program through our library

I played violin as a kid, starting in elementary. In junior high, my private teacher suggested I try viola. It is a little larger than the violin, and the clef is different. Otherwise it is basically the same. The advantages IMO are that it is much easier to get a spot in a good orchestra since there are far fewer viola players than violin players. Also I liked it somewhat better because the strings are lower than violin. I can hear the lower ranges better and therefore play more in tune. The downside could be that the viola parts are not necessarily as interesting as the more showy first violin parts in the orchestra pieces. This may not bother some people at all, but a kid who is exceptionally talented might prefer being first violin because he would usually play the top parts and get the most attention. In retrospect I often have wished that my parents had given me an introduction to all of the various instruments before I had committed to playing one. I think I would have enjoyed and been more successful at playing the cello, but I had never even thought of that as an option when I was young. I only played voila for about a year, so this isn't the most useful post for you I'm sure. I might have continued with it longer had I not gotten into sports in high school.

Bump.

The lessons build on each other. You need to do the program in order. There is a chart at the beginning of the BFSU book that shows how the lessons relate, and which lessons need to be done before certain other ones. I like the program because of how interelated the lessons are. There is a lot of review and systematic learning of the science concepts because of the structure of the program. You could wait until your older child is in second grade and your middle is in K to start the program. Then they could go through it at the same time. This is what I am doing this year. I plan to go through the book in two years, and my oldest will be finishing 3rd grade when I plan to finish the first BFSU book. The concepts are quite advanced, even for older elementary kids.