My son has done well with understanding for the most part. Occasionally he gets frustrated with forgetting something that he hadn't done in awhile. We fix that with a little more review when that happens. I had planned on doing 6a/6b when we're finished with 5a/5b but we'll decide that when the time comes. I was just wondering about the right time to switch to Lial's since so many people seem to like it for middle/high school. It sounds like a good overview of basic math before you start algebra and I was assuming that was what 6a/6b covers but I haven't looked that up. Thank you both for your input. It's interesting that both of you switched during 6a/b.

I notice from these forums that a lot of people seem to like to use the Lial's BCM for a middle school math book. Is is really that good? Is it friendly for a mom, who is weak in math, trying to teach it? Does it come with the solutions worked out thoroughly? Would you use Lial's through Alg. 2? Do they have geometry? I've also heard good things about Jacob's geometry. I'm trying to plan ahead for middle/high school. My older two children have struggled with math for years and I'm hoping to make an easier transition for my youngest. Would someone mind making recommendations for me? When would you use Lial's BCM if your student is using Singapore Math? My son will be using 5a/5b this year. Would it be ok to use Lial's after that or would he need to use 6a/6b next? He just turned 11 and loves math. We've just been studying at a slower pace. Thanks

All these ladies have done a wonderful job explaining the combining SL. We've combined our 2 oldest that are two years apart for four cores and it was perfect for both. I have even added my youngest that's six years younger than my oldest to sit in on some reading for Eastern Hemisphere and core 6 World History and added in his own reading level for readers and a little history. We would leave him out of some of the history/RA if it was too mature for him. Now we just do two cores now. You could do the same core all the way up since they're so close in age. Best wishes!

Thanks for everyone's input. I am torn between Down the rabbit hole's idea, "I would do the AS2 (which is good) and add in the SL readers for core 4 to up the reading level on personal readers." and Jubulibee's great "thumbs up" recommendation since her children are close in age to my son and they love it. They are both great options. I really do want to add in some of the SL readers because they always select such good books. My son has finished his SL reading way before the end of the school year for the last two years. I have to get him extra books from the library and I let him read some of the read-alouds by himself. This could be a great solution so we don't miss out on SL. OK- I think I've talked this through enough. We're on to something.... I'm waffling a bit, but... here it goes... I think I'm going to stay with American Culture and edit with discernment as I go. I may find that it's just fine for him. When my dd was in fifth grade, she made it through SL Eastern Hemisphere, with a little editing in some books, and she loved it. We had some awesome discussions that year. I'm going to also choose some of the readers/read-alouds from SL American History part 2 to purchase or get from the library. Then we'll have the best of both worlds. Whew! I'm so relieved and excited now. Thank you all so... much for all your help. Many blessings to all!

Jubulibee-It's interesting how some people really like a core and others just don't. I enjoyed hearing more about American Culture. It sounds like you've certainly found a curriculum that works for your family. Blueridge-We did Sonlight's Eastern Hemisphere and that is still my older children's favorite core so far. I was planning the other day and mentioned going through that core again with my youngest and my 14 year old got excited about it. She can't wait to read some of the books again. I had to sell that core for other books and my kids were not happy. I'll be purchasing it again in the future. But what works for us doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you. Best wishes!

Diane, I am certainly leaning that way. Blueridge, I'm not brave enough to pull together my own curriculum. You have much more experience than I.

Thanks for the information on American Story 2 being light on the information concerning the wars and politics. If it was just right for your third grader, then it may be too light for a fifth grader. I need to decide if that's the route I'd like to go. I wonder if I just did the American Culture mostly as is... I could skim in some areas (or not) and then do the same program again in high school. Would that be too repetitive (boring) to do the same program seven years later? We have a lot of Sonlight books, so I can pick and choose which books to add to each year depending on the work load. I love Sonlight, but I really want some notebooking & activities planned out for me. For this year, I want to try WP, as is, to get the true feeling of Winter Promise. But like any curriculum, I may need to tweak it to make it work for my family. Here's what we've done and my future, tentative plans if we really like WP: 1st Sonlight Cultures 2nd Sonlight World History (year one) 3rd Sonlight World History (year two) 4th Sonlight American History (early American to 1850s) 5th WP American Culture 1860-2001 (or American Story 2):confused: 6th Sonlight Eastern Hemisphere Cultures 7th WP Ancient History 8th WP Middle Ages 9th WP Royals & Revolutions 10th Sonlight 20th Century World History (add-on economics) 11th WP American Crossing with high school add-on (extra Sonlight readers) 12th WP American Culture with high school add-on (extra Sonlight readers) I did not buy the curriculum new so I would have to sell it if I decided to go with American Story 2. Any thoughts? Please....

I just purchased Winter Promise American Culture labeled 5th-8th grade for my eleven year old. The program looks great, but after flipping through some of the books and MYO pages, I'm concerned about the mature content portrayed in the 1860-2001 time period and that this will just be too much for my child. Has anyone used this for a child at this age level? Did they enjoy it? I'm wondering if I should have purchased American Story 2 instead. I didn't choose that program because the catalogue said that American Story 2 was for 2-4th graders. We have used Sonlight for five years and just finished their core 3 and loved it, but I want to add notebooking & activities with great books for this coming year. Winter Promise looks perfect for this combination. I also thought that some of the books would be great for my high schoolers, but they are about 75% through with Sonlight American History In-Depth and I don't want to add too much to their plate. I'm torn with going ahead and doing American Culture because I have it and, for the most part, I think it will be fine. The books are very interesting and I could adjust anything that I would rather skip. On the other hand, I'm wondering if I should wait to used this in my next cycle through history for high school with the WP high school add-on IG that includes The History of Us Hakim books and Painless American Government. I just want the program that will be the best fit for my son. Any advice would be greatly appeciated.

I would be interested in hearing someone's advice too. I'm trying to decide whether or not to start my son in 5th or 6th R&S LA. My son is in fifth grade and just finished FLL 4.

Thank you for your helpful comments, SilverMoon and Nansk. I need to buy WTM. I've looked at two different editions from the library many times. I thought I remembered that Abeka was the one suggested to only do the grammar and follow Writing Strands for writing in the older edition. I thought that SWB suggested in newer editions that R&S was fine for grammar and writing. I do like how R&S teaches how to write paragraphs and outlining as well as the examples provided. Do most people think that Writing Strands is better at teaching writing than R&S?

Thank you for the advice. It's good to hear from someone who has used the curriculum. I am leaning towards purchasing the 5th grade. I hadn't heard about any new LL coming out. I need to go ahead and start something very soon.

Has anyone done FLL4, then skipped R&S 5 LA to do R&S LA 6? My son should be starting 6th grade (he just turned 11) in the fall and I am trying to place him at the correct grade level with a new curriculum. Does anyone think this would be too difficult if the student did well in FLL4? Would he be missing out on gentler instruction if I skip the 5th book? He likes grammar and I don't want him to dislike it if it gets too intense for him. I am concerned about the writing part in book 6 since my son hasn't done a lot of writing. The WTM recommends Writing Strands (which we just started) and Rod & Staff as good programs. I could have my son finish Writing Strands 3 before we start R&S 6. I like how R&S books 5 & 6 teach writing. I really want to work on his writing skills to get him at the level he needs to be, but I don't want him to hate writing. One more thing, does anyone like the R&S reading, spelling or math books? I'd appreciate any advice about transitioning from FLL to Rod & Staff. We've really enjoyed FLL. I wish there were more levels. Thanks, Tamara

Donna T. I can't remember details, but if you're concerned, you may want to pre-read Torches of Joy, Mary Slessor, and maybe Seven Daughters...(which you are doing), and Shadow Spinner. My children loved all four of these but there may be some things you'll want to skim over. You can, of course, edit as you go. That's what I did most of the time. I do remember checking the Sonlight forums for advice on the books. It's been so long that I can't remember specifics. I personally enjoyed all the above books and am glad that we read them. We learned a lot about the different cultures in the eastern hemisphere from those books. I think it helped my children to understand and enjoy their studies in world history later. My older children's all time favorite for that year was Torches of Joy. I plan to do core 5 again for the 2012-2013 year with my youngest who will then be 12 1/2 years old. I'll ask my older children tomorrow if they remember certain books being too mature for a younger child. Blessings, Tamara

Just adding my two cents. I did core 5 with a 7th, 5th and 1st grader. We absolutely loved it and it is still my older two children's favorite core. My older two children have done cores 5, 6, 7, 100. I made my 7th grader do most everything. My fifth grader, I helped some with the work sheets and didn't require her to do everything. My 1st grader just listened in to the read-alouds that weren't too mature for him. I ordered the Sonlight readers for my first grader's reading level and some books from the read-aloud package. This worked well for us. Since then, we've been doing two cores at a time. It was more difficult because of all the reading I had to do. I quit reading to the two oldest part way through core 100 because of the time factor. I do miss it though, but they're older and able to do it on their own. The EH Explorer and the World Book CD-ROM were great for helping them learn to navigate the computer and work on their research skills. There were some books that I would have waited on for my fifth grader had I known how they would be, but she was mature for her age and she loved it. We had a lot of great discussions about different cultures, missionaries, Biblical topics, etc. We also enjoyed the Choose Your Own Adventure for each culture. We had a luau and invited friends for the Pacific Islands. We cooked native food and made volcanos for entertainment. We also painted aboriginal paintings for Australia, wrote animal fact cards for Southeastern Asia, made eggrolls and learned calligraphy for China, etc. It was fun because they had to choose their own adventure. My motto is... do what's best for your family's needs and don't feel like you have to do everything. There's plenty to choose from. If you need to stop for the summer, just start back up in the fall where you left off. We have done this several times. Whatever you do...enjoy your time with your children. Hope this helps. God bless, Tamara