:bigear: :bigear: We are halfway through AAR2. We have not read the stories or the fluency sheets more than once. Getting DS to read them at all is a major accomplishment, not b/c of the difficulty per se, but b/c my son would rather play all.the.time. It would cause too many battles to have him re-read them! Nonetheless, I am pleased with the progress we've made with AAR even with the minimal review. We're almost to the point where DS can pick up regular early reading books...and I think that will stimulate progress more than repeated reading of literacy sheets (I hope). He may not have all the words memorized, but the quantity of words he has the confidence to tackle is encouraging to him...I think! Yet, I would be interested in additional resources (particularly FUN ones!) to break up the monotony of AAR (it is getting pretty formulaic: lesson, activity, fluency sheet, book excerpt, repeat). We'll still remain with AAR as our primary program though...esp. since I like the extra literary activities like onomatopoeia, reading comprehension, etc that the later lessons touch upon.

Following this thread. We are also using AAR. We are on level 2 now, which does a little bit of reading comprehension and language arts (for example, we recently discussed onomatopoeia). We are doing Fiar level 1 but I don't plan to continue to level 2. After finishing level k of HWOT, I started wwe b/c I already had it, but I find it so disjointed. I have FLL but not keen on doing another round of it this early (I used it for my older child in 1st). I have also added some draw write now pages. Eventually we will do Hwot (1st grade), but I'm undecided about options for comprehension, creative writing, copywork, and grammar. I may pull out the sentence family, and also looking to order Write about Me book from EPS. I'm tempted to get just a traditional textbook, such as VIE.

Following this thread. We are also using AAR. We are on level 2 now, which does a little bit of reading comprehension and language arts (for example, we recently discussed onomatopoeia). We are doing Fiar level 1 but I don't plan to continue to level 2. After finishing level k of HWOT, I started wwe b/c I already had it, but I find it so disjointed. I have FLL but not keen on doing another round of it this early (I used it for my older child in 1st). I have also added some draw write now pages. Eventually we will do Hwot (1st grade), but I'm undecided about options for comprehension, creative writing, copywork, and grammar. I may pull out the sentence family, and also looking to order Write about Me book from EPS. I'm tempted to get just a traditional textbook, such as VIE.

We've already completed FLL 1+2 and then MCT Island+Town levels, so I'm looking for review to cover some gaps left from MCT. I have FLL4 but also was eyeing JAG plus mechanics. The DVDs look appealing as I'd rather use my one-on-one time for science and history. I've read mixed reviews here about JAG so I'm hoping for a comparison between FLL4. We've already done a few lessons of FLL4 and it has been more interesting than FLL1/2....but there is still a lot of repetition and emphasis on memorizing definitions without explaining (in contrast, the DVD lesson of JAG seemed to have a more thorough analysis of prepositions). Thanks!

Did you find a good alternative to Sonrisas? I was interested in Calico Spanish, but the material covered in the first level is not as thorough for the price tag. Yet, I can't really find anything else I like better!

My dd gets a majority wrong with CWP and I have definitely questioned whether to continue with the books. I go over the problems she needs help on, but it is time-consuming and I'm not sure that it is an effective use of my time. Singapore text/workbook is straightforward and I see the progress and it's effectiveness. Similarly, I've been debating about Beast Academy, which also has many challenging problems. At least with BA the answer key is detailed and self-teaching. Both CWP and BA have been so highly reviewed in these boards that I questioned my reservations about them. It is good to hear others echo my thoughts. We'll definitely be dropping something and look into the Zaccaro book. I suspect any learning enhancement with CWP/BA may be outweighed by the frustration caused in my DD and cementing the feeling that she is not good at math.

Sentence Family and 101 Doodle definitions have been our fun LA. We could definitely use more ideas.

Any reviews? Alternatives for music? I was considering this curriculum for my kids. It looked like a fun curriculum (if you google samples plus the name you'll get a generous preview of lessons). There are only 14 lessons, but the pdf of all 6 levels is on sale, so it might make more sense to buy the set. My older DD already does piano, so I'm not sure if she'll benefit from this. We need some more "fun" in our day though!

I have used the old RS Level B and the new edition of RS level A and a third of level B. I mostly switched b/c I preferred the layout and incorporation of more songs and poems in the new level A (I did not already own level A and was using it for the first time with my DS). I also liked that the new level B does more with subtraction, which was a major negative in the old edition and complicated switching to another program (my plan is to switch to Singapore for 2nd grade b/c I have the materials and the combo worked well for my older child). I did not buy the manipulative set, and my math card games book (purchased separately a few yrs ago) was the correct edition. I just purchased the teachers guide/worksheets, and so far, the only mani. I have needed are the gram cubes. My local hs store sells the manipulatives a la carte, so that saves on shipping. I have used my base 10 set for a lesson in RSB b/c it was more intuitive.

I share your thoughts! I don't want to drop it b/c it was so expensive and well-reviewed. DD has learned and doesn't complain about the assignments, but I find it very dry and complicated. We frequently make use of the dictionary app to learn definitions and pronunciations! I think the difficulty of the words can be disheartening for DD. Building language was much more fun for her. The only real fun part is the crossword puzzles (and she likes doing research for the writing assignments). I plan on looking into Wordly Wise and revisit FLL4 possibly. Glad I'm not the only one!

My son does not love crafts. We are working through FIAR1 and most of what we've done has been fun. I don't love FIAR and wish there were other options (see my other post on this subject). But it works. We've worked through the free fold n learns (but using them as worksheets) -- available on the FIAR blog if you register. The most enjoyable part of the curriculum has been the videos I've dug up for them (pinterest, googling). Occasionally I find an online printable that he would enjoy (paper airplane for Glorious Flight, juggling monkey for Clown of God). We are doing SOTW2 with my older DD and my son tags along. He likes some of the coloring, but the material is more advanced for him. If you aren't doing STOW for your older children, I would probably choose FIAR over SOTW.

My DD9 used More Favorites from VP and it had some great crafts that she loved. I'm saving it for next year for DS6, but I doubt he'll enjoy paper/cutting type crafts. The VP primers do too much reading comprehension and not much application like FIAR! I looked up the samples of Lighting Lit but it seemed like a lot of writing -- not sure if I like it better than WWE (or LLtL, if we switched). I haven't looked at the Wand. We tried some Arrows with DD9 and they were okay -- kind of hard for me to implement b/c I feel we will miss things by just picking and choosing. I started Figuratively Speaking with her, which is more methodical (although a bit too advanced -- she's in 4th and the curriculum is labeled 5th and up, for good reason) . The VP primers, for all their faults, are enjoyed by my craft loving DD.

Does this exist? Basically something like WWE1 using whole books (or picture books) with copy work for handwriting practice and guided reading comprehension questions, along with brief discussion/fun activities for setting, literature, art, etc like FIAR1 (which is actually a bit too wordy/advanced at times). As is I don't love FIAR, but the free fold-n-learns (we use them as worksheets) and pinterest suggestions for videos, etc have made it enriching...albeit too time consuming for me to consider volume 2!

When we finished HWOT book I had him finish some of the kumon writing books we had from prek. Recently, we started WWE1 b/c that's what I already had from my oldest, who used it in 1st grade with the longer sentences. The curriculum has two sentence options, and I pick the shorter one. I don't love WWE and have been considering LLtL, but the later lacks reading comprehension. My ideal curriculum would have copy work, reading comprehension and some gentle lit discussion (like FIAR) in one package! I bought the HWOT 1st grade level but haven't started it yet.

I also have my DD work through what your x grader needs to know independently, and there are several art projects she completes. She also does a daily Doodle Definition, which is part art part vocab!