Yes, R&S covers diagramming. I would skip R&S 2 and start in R&S 3, and then slow down if needed, though it's still pretty basic. Level 3 has 125 lessons + 10 Reviews + 5 Unit tests, so you could stretch it out if you want. My opinion is that R&S is a much higher quality program.

I don't know anything about MCT, but my choice would be your R&S/WWE/AAS combo. I would pick R&S over GWG due to rigor, especially since you've already done FLL. I tried CW primer, and while it seemed like a good idea in theory, it seemed like a lot of fluff. I chose to continue in WWE and apply the WWE concepts to our other subjects. I think R&S/WWE/AAS covers everything without overlap, and you can adjust levels as needed. And as long as everything goes well, you can just continue this sequence for the following year.

I think it just takes time and practice. I find that a lot of the problem is recognizing letters with strange connections, like when an "m" follows an "o", the b-s combo and remembering that m's have three humps and n's have two, which is different than print. I wouldn't stress about it, just provide more practice. I definitely wouldn't require work done in cursive if he is concentrating on how to write in cursive. That's two things at once - and very frustrating. We use a lot of cursive copywork to build up fluency first.

I have this and it was pretty painful when growing up, especially when I was growing. I could never kneel down on my left knee in church either. However, now that I've stopped growing, it never hurts anymore. My dad had it, so I've been keeping an eye on my kids, but so far, so good!

I would recommend that you determine what type of curriculum you'd get excited about teaching, especially for the younger. I've found that if Mom is engaged and enthusiastic, the child will be too. Plus, you have to teach it every day. For me, I need a lot of open-and-go. I don't have the time or energy to piece together stuff on my own. For your older who will probably be more independent, you'll need to focus more on what he/she will like best. I love All About Spelling for spelling. Because your kids have been in public school, you might not know exactly where they are in spelling. AAS has levels 1-7 and everyone starts at level one. Because it is a mastery program, you progress as fast (or as slow) as is needed. My kids speed through the first two levels and start slowing down late in level 3. My oldest is in level 5 now and we stretch it out to one "step" a week, with one day being the lesson and the other three working through the sentence dictation and the writing station. We've tried other spelling programs, but this has been by far the most effective. As for cursive, once my child can form the letters, I give them cursive copywork sentences daily. This improves fluency and speed, and I can correct wrong habits. Once this is easy, I just start having them do their work in cursive.

I found myself regularly missing time with my daughter and her daily reading lesson, and AAR has completely solved my problem. It is the epitome of open and go. No copying, no finding materials, no wondering "What do I do next?" There is a Teacher's Manual that gives step-by-step instructions on what and how to teach the lesson. Need a game? It's in the activity book. Time to work on fluency at the current level? Tear the next page out of the activity book. I usually also pull out random cards from her box to review words. And the readers (though expensive) and beautiful compared to other phonics readers. It might just be her personality, but my daughter loves the games. She loves putting stars on her chart. I have solved my "forgetting her reading lesson" problem because she hunts me down and reminds me if I forget. And because of our regularity, she has made dramatic progress in the last few months. The only things she might balk at are the long fluency sheets. I usually have her pick out one line, then I pick one, three times each, and then call it a day. I use AAS with my two olders, and reading is really a whole different animal than spelling. They use the same tiles, but the teaching is completely different. Who cares why you need a 'ck' at the end of the word at this stage? You just have to know it says /k/. For reading instruction I would purchase AAR, and use AAS once she can read well. Obviously I love the program and will use it for my youngest. I just hope they get the next level out in time! Best of luck!

Prima is so basic that you don't really need the DVD. The only thing I might add is the flashcards. These are the same flashcards as for Latina Christiana, so if you think that you'll continue on to this next program, they might be worth it. Three days a week are fine. One for the lesson and the workbook page, one for review and the copybook, and maybe some sort of flashcard review/evaluation day. We tried to review the prayers daily to keep them fresh.

Cursive is fun! Well, until you start requiring it for schoolwork... All mine learned it at 5. We've tried a couple resources and I'd recommend HWT's cursive book. Just give it to her and let her do it when she wants to. My kids think it's like a puzzle to solve.

During breakfast I read the Bible lesson or devotional to the kids and ask questions. At lunch I read the read-aloud geared towards my middle kids (currently Dr. Dolittle). I figure they're getting some good entertainment/learning and practicing eating quietly at the table. (They are not allowed to interrupt while I'm reading) And that's a lot better than them picking at each other. A win-win for me!

My daughter is at that stage and she has one of the Mead Primary Composition books (can buy at Target) that has the bottom half of the page lined and the top half empty. I write a sentence out of one of her readers and she copies it below. Then she can illustrate the sentence on top, if she wants.

Does she pass others safely, or does she veer towards them too? If it's only you, I would definitely be preoccupied with something when she comes and let her hit you. Then fall down and grab your shin. This would, of course, be better with a decent-sized audience. Maybe the embarrassment would stop the behavior.

This is our second year for the VP self-paced class. We are on week 10 of NTGR. There are four regular days of teaching and the fifth is a quick quiz. My son does it in four days, doing days 4&5 on the same day. It takes about 30 minutes each day, plus or minus. He loves it. Sometimes he wants to work ahead, but I won't let him. Ha, Ha! We also try to match it with SOTW one (or two) days a week. The VP is for fun and interactive learning, SOTW is for narration/writing practice. SOTW also adds in non-western people groups, so I like the combo. My son reads the level one history readers that match up with the VP class. I pre-read them and eliminate ones that he won't like or are inappropriate.

We have used parts of K, 1, 2, and 3. I am planning on using their Grade 4 package next year. I definitely feel like they have strengths in some areas and are weak in others (math & science). However, we are going to try their Grade 4 insects book next year and see how it goes. Up till now we have supplemented their science. This year we are incorporating their astronomy book with our self-made astronomy/earth science study. I think Memoria Press has done a great job majoring on the majors in these early years. The history texts are used to introduce the student (and you!) to the major characters in history. We use other sources, readers, and read alouds to expand upon the given time period. We tweak as needed, but their framework helps keep us on track.

I'd take the real books used in the MP program over compiled reading selections any day.

This is what we do. I usually tell my son that he has x number of days to complete the review. He can split it up any way it wants as long as it is all done by the designated day. I think he likes this small taste of autonomy.

You don't need workbooks at all, just a patient teacher and a lot of phonics readers. My three oldest students learned to read well ahead of their writing ability, so I just went with it.

We use VP's self-paced history class for fun (4 days/wk) and the similar SOTW for narration practice (1 day/wk).

The super-easy review stuff will only last a short while. Feel free to double up on lessons. This will give you the flexibility to slow down later if needed.

I haven't used those programs, but there are some very distinct steps in learning to read: 1. Know your letter sounds. (can be done concurrently with step 2) 2. Blend CVC words. This step can take 5 minutes or a year or more, depending on your child's readiness. Stay here until they can blend easily. We have a ton of easy phonics readers (like Bob Books, level 1) from Sonlight (Fun Tales and I Can Read It), Christian light, progressivephonics.com, all about reading, etc. This way there is always new material to read. I find that two sessions of five minutes a day is sufficient in this stage. The key here is consistency. Every day until this gets easy. This is the hard part. 3. Once they can blend without pause, then you can add in extra letters, silent e, vowel teams, etc. If they have blending down cold, they will fly through this step. Don't add additional difficulty if they are still trying to learn how to blend. And that's it! Patience and consistency...

Memoria Press has guides for grades 1-6. You can pick and choose the level you need. I like these guides because they include vocab, reading comp questions, and deeper questions for understanding themes in the book. They also include some enrichment activities like recipes, crafts, and map work if you want to do that.

Things can get a little crazy around our house too. What works best for us is to have one of the older children assigned to play with the three-year old, and then rotate. For example, my two oldest will do math while my dd plays with the little one. Then my second son plays with him while I do LA with my oldest and handwriting with my dd. Then my oldest plays with him while I work with my middle two. The kids all get staggered breaks and the youngest gets some attention. Best of luck!

Our school days typically coincide with Daddy's work days. If he has a Friday off, so do we. I tell the kids that their "job" is schoolwork, so if he's working so are we. If we need a change of pace, we will have an art & science week or something else that is special, but we need the school routine around here too. This also gives us the flexibility to take the day or week off if someone is visiting.

I don't know if this is exactly what you're looking for, but we like Jeanne Bendick's books: Archimedes and the Door of Science Along Came Galileo Galen and the Gateway to Medicine

We camp out on CVC for a long time. It is a lot easier to teach the subsequent rules when your child can blend easily. It builds up their confidence and then they can just concentrate on the new phonics rules if they've got blending down. We have tons of early phonics readers so that we can have fresh materials to read. Once they get blending figured out, the rest is a breeze!

We used the OTAE self-paced class for 2nd grade. My son had great fun and learned a lot. This class has many Old Testament cards, so he got in-depth instruction into the major OT bible stories. He zoned out a lot when they were reading the Bible passages, but everything else was great. I was letting him use it semi-independently, with the goal of introducing him to the famous people/events of history. We are using NTGR this year and have been enjoying it even more. Next year my two oldest (will be 2nd and 4th) will do MARR and I will probably register them both. There is a discount for additional students, and I think there will be less goofing off and more fun doing the games and activities if they can each do them. Now to start saving... Oh, and we all still sing the 10 days of creation, the 12 tribes of Israel, and the 10 commandments. Those songs are catchy!