We have used AAS Levels 1 & 2 and will be starting 3 soon. I love it. Absolutely love it! I find it very open and go and it has made a definite improvement on DD8's spelling and reading!

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Bumping this! (Yes, I am shamelessy trying to drum up interest! I want 50% off!!)

I strongly suggest trying AAS. Even when he goes to public school he will most likely need some extra after-schooling help until he catches up. Yes, it is about remembering rules, but it's done in a way that really helps a child retain the information. I honestly can't say enough good things about this program.

Yes, the definitely do give a lot of review and I do like the writing. It seems to be working better for DD then Writeshop did. I am going to make some minor adjustments and see if we can make BJU work for the rest of this year for sure, it's too late to mess around with something new at this point. I am doing a lot of looking for next year though. I also found these quite some time ago, in case you're interested: http://sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html

Thanks for the suggestions! No, I don't think we are having trouble fitting her for other subjects. We have played around with math a bit, but found something that works for us now. I am just in the process of planning for next year and thought I had all my books/subjects sorted...and now I am debating about BJU English...

We started using BJU English for grammar and writing this year (gr.3). The writing portion seems to be going well and DD is doing well with it. The grammar, however, is another story. We do the little lesson and the practice pages and additional practice pages and it just isn't sticking. If I start bringing up adjectives, verbs, predicates, etc her eyes just gloss over. She will "get through" that days activities, but gets it all confused by the next day and will, for example, underline a full predicate instead of just the noun. We used FLL for a bit (in Gr.1), but the repetition got on both our nerves...however...the only thing she does seem to remember well is the definition of a noun (thank you FLL) So....do I jump ship on BJU and go back to FLL? and what level would I start with at this point? Bleh! Why does this always happen just when I think I've got things figured out??

HWT has the child copy beneath the words. They also have teaching tips for lefties. :)

Thanks for the info! I *may* have found a used kit. Fingers crossed!

How many pages are the appendices for Level B? It sounds like it will be cheaper to get the basic kit and just buy the games book seperately. :) Thanks!

Which do I buy? I don't need a calculator, money kit, or a dry erase board. I do want the games, but the Games Book is only in the Deluxe kit. Do I need the book to play the games? Also, are the appendices and the fraction charts really needed?

Tough teacher doesn't work here either.:lol: I suggest lots of games! If you google you will find lots, or try Games for Math by Peggy Kaye. Rightstart games are supposed to be wonderful too. You can view "Go to the Dump" on YouTube. :)

I wouldn't correct it. You can ask questions to help him expand plot and characters and such (ie: This boy sounds very interesting. How old is he?) and if you notice mispellings, I would just add them to a "personal dictionary" that he can consult (Writeshop idea - called a Superspeller).

We got this: http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Poems-Strategies-Building-Fluency/dp/0439438306/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331906222&sr=1-1 and it has helped a lot. We got the book a grade level behind, and the words are very easy to decode and many lines repeat. This has helped boost DD8 confidence so much! There are great tips for building fluency in the front of the books too.

I make DD8 have a second go at any question she got wrong -- assuming there are only 1-2 or so. This way I know if she was just hurrying through (something that happens often here!) or if she really doesn't know the material. If there are several wrong, I reteach the lesson and we do extra practice questions. Rinse and repeat.:001_smile:

We are using Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book One with a 6 year old and an 8 year old. We are really liking it!

We have always used the student packs. Do you make your own cards? Or just review from the book? If so, I imagine you could do so with Level 3 as well. -- we just recieved it, so I haven't had a chance to go over yet so I can't offer much info on it. We also ordered the Homophones workbook, which I think will be a nice addition.

How long (ballpark) does the Lightblue 1-6 download take?

I don't think it's a program that can be planned down to the day very well. We just aim to do spelling 5 days a week. On average we take 2 days to complete a lesson. Even if she masters a level quickly, I like to take the second day to just make sure. I also started doing spelling twice a day. In the morning we start the lesson and build the words on the white board, then I have her read the word cards and in the afternoon she spells them on paper and does the dictation sentences. It takes maybe 10 minutes or less, twice a day.

I was wonering about this too. :001_smile: Also curious how long the download takes for the Lightblue series - grade 1-6?

We renew books all the time. I usually won't buy a book that is a favorite from the library, though. We just return it and take it out again at another time. The kids know that the book will always be there and returning it gives me a break from reading the same story again and again...and it also forces them to be open to other stories in the mean time.

Thanks for responding! It looks like it might work well for us. :001_smile:

Do you use BJU Reading? What do you like/dislike about it?

Thanks for the link!