I think you are doing well with the games you currently play, to be honest, and I wouldn't worry about adding in any extra. Some of the back-slide could definitely be because of her love of writing. She could be getting so absorbed in the process of putting her ideas on paper that the spelling falls by the wayside. When she makes an error, have her try spelling that word in isolation during a game. It will give you a better idea of which words she truly knows. If you see a pattern in certain words, then you know to address that concept.

Double-sided tape and glue dots. One of our dollar stores usually has them, but the others in the city don't. :( It might be worth looking to see if there is one near you that carries them.

I haven't been able to find a planner that I love, so I just do my own thing. I did a lot of browsing online to see what kinds of pages I wanted, then I tweaked them. Some I found printables and used as is. I love these pages: http://www.tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/free-printables/7-step-curriculum-planner/ In the past I have put all my record keeping pages in a basic binder, but this year I am going to have them bound at Staples.

I *think* CBD also offers sales on BJU, but I'm not sure when.

Yes, I have a Mainstay Laminator that I got for $10 at Walmart on sale. I buy the laminating pouches when there are on sale (around $9). It has come in very handy, but I wouldn't have invested more $$ in it. Page protectors are cheaper.

I haven't been able to locate the history, but will ask the librarian at our next library day. :)

I can't get the file to attach on the forum for some reason, but if you'd like the bookmarks I made, message me your email and I will send them to you. It's a word document, so you can tweak it how you wish. :)

Also found these answer keys. I didn't find them necessary for Book A, but think they might be helpful for the other books. http://www.setonbooks.com/viewone.php?ToView=S-WRIT-21

We used Writing Skills book A this year and the kids were able to do most of it independently. For the price, I'm really quite happy with it overall. The progression is quite systematic and gentle throughout (have only used Book A so far), but for some reason at the end they stick in a couple formal assignments (comparison/contrast essay, friendly letter and a formal letter) It's a jump from writing single paragraphs to multi paragraphs and it seems to come out of nowhere. I don't think the writing/examples are particularly well done either. I much prefer BJU for formal writing, but Writing Skills has been a nice addition to that and it got done daily with no complaint, so that's something. :)

I think I posted my 7th grader's plan somewhere, but I can't remember, so I'm just going to do it again. :) I am in planning mode for next year, so I need to bring others in to the madness. LOL 7th Grader: TT & EM word problems CLE Reading AAS Writing Skills/BJU Writing/BW mix Winston Grammar Bible study not sure on sports yet and considering drama or a cooking class. 5th grader: TT & EM word problems CLE Reading AAS Writing Skills/BJU writing/BW mix Winston Grammar Bible Study Typing soccer, swimming...and possibly an art or creative writing class 2nd grader: BJU math AAR/AAS Explode the Code A Reason for Handwriting/copywork Bible Study Typing soccer, swimming...and... Combined: art - a mish mash I plan to throw together this summer Apologia zoology 3 MoH vol. 2- kind of sort of as a spine, with a lot of tweaking ETA: Most of what we are using is a carry over from this year. Winston Grammar is new for us, so we'll see how that goes. My 5th grader is moving from BJU math to TT and this will also be our first year using CLE reading & Apologia. I purchased MoH and then the kids told me that they hated it...so now I am attempting to tweak it to make it work, as it was expensive. :(

I would also return to AAS and just revamp how you use it so it works better for your family. You can work on his logic and following directions separately, if need be. My middle kiddo is a natural speller, but we still work on AAS at the pace of 1 lesson per week. Monday I teach the lesson, which is our longest day. She doesn't need the tiles, so we just use a Boogie Board. Tuesday I read her the words and she writes them, same for Wednesday. Thursday she writes the words again and I dictate a few sentences and the writing station words. Friday she writes the words again and does a couple more dictation sentences. As another poster said, you might find it easier to make an audio of you reading the words and sentences. This would make it more independent from Tues-Friday. We could very well move at a more accelerated pace with her, but I find the 1 lesson a week really cements things for her and it carries over to her other writing very well.

Which version of BJU are you using? And do you use the TG? We are using the newer editions and the review is built in to the beginning of the lesson. There are also review lessons on the CD in the TG and a separate review book you can get as well. Just curious if you are using these resources and it still isn't enough? If so, I'd maybe suggest Saxon (disclaimer: we've only ever used the K) because I believe the majority of each lesson is review followed by a bit of new teaching. I *think* CLE is similar, but have never used it. If you are just using the BJU workbook and not wanting to add the other elements, TT might be a good fit. It would depend how well she does with computer teaching. There is review, but I wouldn't say it is more than what BJU offers, so it might not be a good fit either. They have great samples online to try. My oldest begged to do more and more of the sample lessons, it's what sold us on giving it a try. It's been a great fit for her. :)

Do you know how to figure out which edition you are getting? I have a student book, but there is no where on there (that I can find) that says what edition it is. I am kind of banging my head against a wall trying to find a TG that is the right edition and will ship to Canada.

:grouphug: I have had moments like that too. Just remind yourself, it's not about what you know/don't know, but your ability to find out. :) Around here, a favorite phrase is "just google it." lol

I embrace each age and stage my kids reach and I love where they are at right now - there are so many pluses -- they are a really big help around the house, they clean their own rooms, they can hold their own puke pails when they are sick...you know, the good stuff. LOL I absolutely find it all bittersweet though. My oldest is going to be able to drive soon and my youngest just turned 7. I definitely sit here and wonder "when did that happen??" I miss my youngest crawling up for snuggles. Now he's too busy doing his own thing to offer up more than a quick hug. I know it's a good thing and I don't want it to be different, but it doesn't mean I don't miss those moments. I love the idea of just having more babies. LOL But then I remember that I like my sleep and that I already sold my AAR Pre-1 level, so clearly we must be done. ;)

:lurk5:

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! :)

I really wish our library did this!

I originally found the idea here: http://www.thelearningtrunk.com/wow-bookmarks/ and then I made my own the way I wanted them. I am willing to share the ones I made, if you want them. :) We kept the W.O.W words (words of worth) idea. I just explained to the kids what it meant. I had them write down any words they didn't know or really liked. For awhile I gave them a little prize if they used one of their W.O.W words later in their writing. Next year I want to use this idea I found on Pinterest:

Last year I printed book marks with a space for title, author and any vocab words they wanted to record. I also put 5 stars at the top so they could rate the book, then I punched a hole in the top. Every time they read a book they filled out a bookmark and put it on a ring. It worked very well and they were really motivated to keep reading and adding bookmarks to their ring.

But less money and easier to find. We are in Canada and I haven't had much luck finding a copy of Jolly Music (or one for under $74, anyways). I just want something fun, open and go, to play around with this summer that will let the kids experiment with music fundamentals (pitch, rhythm, etc). I really like the little games and such in the Jolly Music program, but haven't been able to find anything similar... ETA: Just realized I changed my sig. Kids are 7, 10 & 12.

My middle kiddo was similar. She just finished BJU 4. She technically passed the TT 5 placement test, but the answers she got wrong were on the same topic, so we are pulling those topics from TT5 and doing them first and then moving in to TT 6. Since you plan to switch her to TT anyways, I wouldn't mess with a year of BJU at this point.

This is how my kids have been with the ancients. There were barely a handful of topics that they really engaged with. We ended up wrapping our year up with DVD's from the library. Next year we move into the middle ages. I'm hoping they will like it more.

We have used such a mix of things. We followed the public school for the first two years, covering color mixing, floating/sinking, planting a seed in a cup, etc. Then we used Mr. Q's Life Science with a lot of tweaking. We didn't really enjoy it, so of course, I went ahead and bought Mr. Q's Earth Science. Haha. We made it through half and then tossed it. I want to love Mr.Q's, I really do. The author clearly has such a passion for science and the text has some cute humor thrown in, but honestly the info was just over my kids heads. I spent so much time explaining everything that their eyes glazed over. Then we used RS4K Physics and that was awesome. We all really liked it. We used RS4K Chemistry this year, and as a previous poster mentioned, the love died there. I was bummed because we had really liked the physics. I debated about trying the earth or biology books, but they are so pricey for such short units. We are trying Apologia Zoology 3 this year. We'll see how it goes.

ok, I think I have it sorted - for real this time. ;)