How much did you pay for this? It won't list the price for me. I am almost an hour away from Sam's so I just can't swing by. :tongue_smilie: But, I am planning a trip there soon. Also, is it sturdy?

Those that use the carts from Joann's (and Micheal's, are they sturdy? I assume yes since you are recommending them, but the reviews are bad!

We work together at a table, but the boys have desk in their rooms. Once in a while someone is in a bad mood and needs to do their work alone. The indivdual desl are great when someone needs silence to do their school work. If you really can't do both, I vote community table.

See if you can follow . . . . not sure if I can explain what I have been doing. For each subject I have lesson plans written (or on the computer), but I just have them labeled as Day 1 do this, day 2 do this, etc. and I don't assign a date to it. On my calendar/lesson plans I have the subjects I want them to do for the day/week/month. I started doing this when we got really behind and I couldn't bring myself to erase and rewrite 2 months of plans. If something doesn't get completed for the day I will either add that subject to the next day or I will not worry about it and we will continue next time we do that subject. So far this plan is working. I am still tweaking a little since it is new to me.

Misses: Math Mammoth Math-U-See (I wish I had figured out the MUS wasn't for my Ds before we got to Delta-very hard to place coming out of the middle of this program!!) Anything history related!! (MFW CtG, MOH, SOTW-yes, I spent a lot of history this year and nothing to show from it!) Hits: Spelling Power swimming lessons at the YMCA Rightstart math (this was on a previous miss in the past, but we went back to it a month ago and it was a hit, now we can't wait to start it again in July)

:iagree: We tried doing a co-op again and I can't understand why I didn't learn my lesson the first time! We are NOT co-op people. :lol:

Spelling Power! It took a couple of years to find the perfect spelling program for my struggling speller and I found it a few months ago. Already seeing a difference and he doesn't complain about using it!

I bought Bigger for my youngest to start in July. This will be the only HOD we ever do. Bigger was just what I was looking for! But, even though HOD looks great, we won't be using any other of the guides.

Yes, more times than I wish to share. :tongue_smilie: Situation change, kids change, and sometimes you change. I usually just don't understand the program at first or I can't see where it is going. Sitting it aside for a while and I have time to figure that out. I will be going back to Righstart this year. It was so different than our previous math program that I could not figure it out! Now I figured it out and it is exactly what my kids need. There was a grammar program that I have been trying off and on for 4 years and I just finally got it two months ago and now I am made at myself for not sticking with it . . . . it is so good! :lol:

This was my favorite science for my kids in the early grades!! We didn't do anything formal until 3rd grade. I just went to the library and got books on the subjects my kids liked. Wrote down the name of our favorite books for record when my youngest would be that age. Our suject matter wasn't random, but organized as we spent a month of the human body and a month on animals, etc. Plus it is free!!! :D

I have used both and I like Spelling Power more. I like how in Spelling Power they only study 3-5 words at a time. This was the most important step in my son finally taking off in spelling! I didn't realize that list of 15-25 words was too much to study at one time for him. Spelling Plus has long list! I spend less time in prep with Spelling Power too. Lesson take about 10-15 minutes per day and I am usually only needed for 5-10 of that time. The only thing I don't like about Spelling Power is that there is no dictation, but that is easy to do on our own.

I consider busy work anything that doesn't help a child learn the subject matter, or too much work at one sitting (like pages of math problems), or excessive work of a mastered concept. Busywork can be different for every child. I really misunderstood what busy work was from reading different how to homeschool books over the years. I was really mislead! I believed what one mom said was busywork, but it wasn't busywork for my child. My child missed out of activities they enjoyed doing to learn.

:bigear:

I've heard SM can be hard to teach for a non-mathy mom. Is this true?

I am still not sure what to do for Ds age 11, will be grade 6 for math next school year. I wanted to get some new ideas. I hope someone has an idea I haven't thought about! :001_smile: He has struggled with math and we have yet to find a math program that fits this kid. MUS, Math Mammoth, and Horizon were all big fails for us. We are running about a grade level behind in math. My only goals right now is to have him ready for Algebra by 9th grade and for him to understand basic math skills. I would LOVE to have a conceptual program for him. He is similar to me and that I can't memorize steps to do something unless I understand why I am doing it. This is why we tried MUS, but he didn't like watching the DVD and he didn't understand their explanations. Math Mammoth drove us both crazy because it was so incremental. Right now I have Mathematical Reasoning 5th grade (from Critical Thinking Company). I was also going to get the Kitchen Table Math books to help with explaining the concepts that he will learn in the workbook. He likes this workbook because he is visual and the pages have lots of pictures and color. I would be 100% sold on this if it was conceptual. But, the program ends there and I don't know what we will do the next year. :tongue_smilie: Anyone have any better ideas?

I just bought the 3rd grade and 5th grade books this month. I really like what I see! I will use it for a core for my 5th, but a supplement for my 3rd. I believe the price is because of the color pages and there is a ton! I plan to take them in and have the spine cut off and get it spiral bound. The 5th grade book has a lot of extra math puzzles from some of their other books. I am looking forward to using these books.

I agree the the TM is very poor! It really isn't conceptual based, and that sounds like what you are looking for. I have seen the 2nd and 3rd grade ones. If you like JUMP, so with that. I went and got a workbook from our local Barnes and Nobles a couple of weeks ago and those are great for review. It was unit based and I just pick a topic for review for the day and have Ds do some problems. To be honest it did a better job of explaining then Horizon did. I think I got the 4th grade math skills book for $6.95 and used my educators card to get 20% off that price. Cheap!

:lurk5: I could have written this post. I think my Ds is struggling in math just because he doesn't understand the concepts. Would Kitchen Table Math books be an option to show the conceptual knowledge behind the procedual that he already knows?

Spelling Power has become a hit here. I have tried several before this one. I like it because it is easy for the teacher. No prep besides printing off some sheets for daily test and study sheets. It has rules, but isn't as intense as AAS. My son is enjoying it! It is quick and just the right amount of words to study each day. It is not workbook based which could be good or bad depending on your child. It's a good price for something that will goes from 2nd grade to high school.

We needed a break in February and even though I intended not to do any "school", we still logged the same amount of hours in interest led learning. It was a great break! We did get behind on our "core" subjects. I really don't know how to put peace and joy in our homeschool during normal times. So, :lurk5:. Hoping to be inspired!

Thanks!

Can someone provide a link for MEP. I didn't get anything on a quick search. I have never looked at this program. I have a very similiar problem with my oldest as the OP. I am looking into Rightstart with my youngest, but my oldest will be 6th grade next year, but will need around a 5th grade math program. I think it's too late to start in Rightstart.

Yes!

Legos are big at our house and it helps with fine motor skills and creativity and reading directions. My boys like Mad Libs too which I count as grammar. Perhaps some art projects . . . . . modeling clay that can be dried in the oven. My oldest likes to cook, so perhaps a cooking lesson for cookies or cake.

I used the Expedition Earth this year for a little while. I like it, but it just wasn't a good fit for my kids. It is inexpensive, but it does require several books. You wouldn't need to get them all. I got really lucky and had a friend who has them all and sold them to be for a cheap price. The only con for me was that it was a 5 day a week program and we didn't want to spend 5 days on it. It is easy to adjust to double up days or take out countries.