Thanks. Have you used it on grade level or are you saying you used it a year ahead? Do you know anything about coming into it from Saxon? My 2nd grader definitely needs something different for next year and my other two would really like something different also, although they are doing okay with Saxon. Do you have any thoughts on Horizons 6 vs. their Prealgebra?

I actually have stopped timing them, but she still hates doing the fact sheets and melts down, says she can't do it, etc. But she is happy to do a page of adding 3-digit numbers or more and seems to remember her math facts better in the middle of a more complex math problem than just alone. I am not too worried about Horizons not explaining as I feel I can do that, but I have looked at CLE also. It seemed like a ton of problems and I think the colorful format of Horizons would appeal to her. Horizons has way more practice of items than Saxon does-every problem on the Saxon 3 worksheet is different almost.

My kids have been doing Saxon since the beginning. They would like a workbook format and at least 2 of the 3 would do better with a program that provides more practice in concepts before moving on, which Horizons seems to do. Currently they are in Saxon 3 (2nd grader), Saxon 6/5 (4th grader) and Saxon 7/6 (5th grader). I gave my two oldest the placement test. The 5th grader tested into Prealgebra and the 4th grader tested into 5th grade. I have not given the placement test to my 2nd grader yet. She hates the timed fact sheets in Saxon and shuts down, yet loves to do multi-digit addition with regrouping, etc and almost seems to remember her math facts better when using them within a more difficult problem. I just wanted to see what you all think about switching and if there is anything else I should consider. I am not sure if we will do Algebra in 7th or if we will do another more challenging Prealgebra (such as AOPS) and wait on Algebra for 8th grade. I figure we will see how it goes this year. Is there any reason I should have her do Horizons 6 instead of Horizons Prealgebra?

I am also interested in hearing thoughts on Wilson Hill classes.

Thank you all. A local hs friend who has older kids said that she greatly prefers Algebra 1/2 over 8/7. She has had a child go through both and then into Alg. 1 afterward. I noticed that Veritas Scholars Academy uses that also. So obviously opinions vary. I think I will just need to go look at both books and decide which seems best for us.

My 5th grader is doing Saxon 76. She is a good math student, but is not a "math whiz". What are my options for 6th-8th assuming she continues to do well the rest of this school year? I am not sure if Algebra 1 in 7th grade will be a good idea for her, but its probably too early to tell.

My 5th grader has done the following math and I am trying to figure out where to go next. Saxon 3 (2nd) Saxon 5/4 (3rd) Saxon 6/5 (4th) Currently she is working through Saxon 7/6. So far in 7/6 she has learned nothing new. She has been copying problems onto graph paper since 3rd grade. I have thought about giving her a break from Saxon and having her do Horizons 5 and 6 and then into a prealgebra book in 7th. In some ways since she has done Saxon so long, I feel like using a different publisher might be good for her. I gave her the placement test for Horizons 5 and she tested fine for that, but there were some things that were phrased differently that I had to explain to her and it made me wonder if 2 years in Horizons would be good for her. She is a strong student, but I wouldn't say she is a math whiz. What would you recommend for 5th-8th grade? For now we are continuing with Saxon 7/6. Edited to say the reason I am re-evaluating mid-year is that she is now home full time after being in a 2-day school where the curriculum was dictated.

Thanks so much. Your input is helpful. Our UMS uses Shurley grammar (so not FLL), but they are using WWE for the first time next year. Thanks again!

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We have used WWE 1 and loved it. Next year my children will be attending a Classical UMS 2 days per week and we will do lessons at home the other 2 days with Fridays as a extracurricular/field trip/catch up day. The school has decided to use WWE next year, which I am thrilled about as we have really enjoyed it. I have been tasked with writing an outline of the curriculum for the teacher training. As I started examining WWE 2, I realized there are some lessons that won't work for a classroom setting. For instance, in WWE 2, Day 1 (Narration) and Day 4(Dictation/Narration) will both need to be done at home one on one. Days 2 (Copywork or later on Dictation) and 4 (Dictation) can be done fairly easily in a small classroom setting. Our school day is Mondays and Wednesdays at school and Tues/Thurs. for home lessons. My question: Is the order of the lessons vitally important to the curriculum? Would it work to do Copywork(school), Narration(home), Dication(school), Dictation/Narration(home) instead of the order in the book? SWB if you read this, can you weigh in on whether that might work and if so, what order would work based on our school/home schedule for Levels 1, 3 and 4? I don't have all the levels in front of me and I loaned my copy of The Complete Writer out to a friend, so the only thing I have to look at is my copy of WWE2. Finally, are there any important points for classroom teachers of 12-15 students besides reading the explanation in The Complete Writer? I have found the curriculum to be very user friendly and so I am thinking that just figuring out how to make the lessons work logistically and having them read The Complete Writer should be enough. Thanks!

My dh works fairly long hours as well. He leaves the house around 6:45 and isn't home til 6 pm usually. He often has evening dinners/client events as well, so a fair amount of the time he doesn't see the kids til the next day. He also needs me to accompany him to some of those, which further busies our schedule. My children are 7.5, 6, 4 and 17 months. We have always homeschooled, but my two older girls did MDO one day a week when they were toddlers and I was expecting our third dd and it was helpful at that time as I had no other way to go to my appts, have a bit of a break, run a couple errands. We have loved homeschooling and I'd probably recommend it in your situation. I agree that *probably* the K schedule would be even harder than spending an hour a day doing K with your son (that's about all it takes!). That being said, if you are overwhelmed, your health (mental or physical) is suffering as a result or your marriage is suffering, I would find some type of help. That might be MDO/preschool for your youngers, a mothers' helper or babysitter on a regular basis for you to take care of yourself, house cleaning help (I have had this since my 3rd child was born, once a week) or even putting your oldest in school if you thought that was the best solution. If you have family who would help regularly, even better, but I know most people don't have that (we don't!). My dh reads to the children most evenings and is a wonderful father, but he is not home to do the hands-on homeschooling most of the time. I began to feel burned out this winter and we will be using a university model school next year. I didn't do it in K for my oldest b/c it just wasn't worth it to me to drive her to school (its just two days/week), have to be on the school schedule and lose the flexibility of full time hs and still have 3 littles at home to care for and then have to pick her up again. Full time homeschool was the best option *at that time* for our family. We have loved it. My children are very very close and they have been able to learn at their own developmental pace, which I think is especially critical in the early years. I have actually been more overwhelmed this year trying to manage 1st, K, a 3 yo and a baby and meeting the needs of a very busy husband and household. The UMS near us is *so similar* to what we have been doing and want to do that it is a great fit for our family and we will still have the flexibility a few days a week and time all together that we love. The biggest draw for me this year was that my 3 older girls can all attend 2 days/week. To top it off, the church where the school meets also has an MDO program (the one where my dds went) that overlaps by one day. So I will have one day where they are all there and I only have to drive to one place. It wouldn't be worth it to me to drive all over town or only have one child at a school. And I wouldn't want them gone more than the two days. That is plenty for me. Try to think of your educational choices on a year-by-year basis. I used to think we'd never do anything but full time school forever, but I am learning to take it year by year and seek out the best choice for our family each year. The other thing that helps us is to schedule picking up time around 4:30 each day. I also tend to bathe the children right after that so the house is relatively neat, children are clean, calmer after the bath and in pjs and we are ready to eat when dh arrives home. If he is going to arrive after 6 pm or if we are just having a severe meltdown day, then I feed the children their "nursery tea" around 5 and they have reading time, Bible time and tuck ins with Daddy when he arrives. I love the ideal of the family dinner (we still do it several nights a week at least), but some days you just have to settle for calm fed children, calmer mommy and less chaos when dh arrives home. A good read on family life (whatever school option you choose) is For the Familys Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. She is a Christian though, just fyi.