Thank you everyone for your responses. :) Shannon, Your post really made a lot of sense to me. We are using PR too. I think you've helped me to realize something. I'm having to do remedial work with my dd (currently accelerating through PR) so it makes complete sense to me that I'm not able to allow the history and science to be the center of our LAs focus. I think the problem lies in my trying to do that and trying to get those foundational skills down at the same time. I end up creating too much work and completely overwhelming my dd. I think that's part of the problem with using Trail Guide to Learning, since they also schedule in writing and other LAs like vocabulary. I feel like my dd should be doing those things (she's 12) so we've been adding them plus what we are doing in PR2. I like that those things are very neatly tied in with History in the program, but it is making our days much too long. I'm sure PR 3 is going to add a lot more. I've started watching the Dvds for PR3 and the writing really picks up. I'm just not sure where to cut those things out of our history program. It's overkill with our other LAs and I'm going to have to tweak, but it's just tough to balance those skills and applying them across the board without becoming overwhelming. Thanks also for sharing your schedule. I need to begin with Bible first and then our Math and LAs. We usually end up doing the history first and then the rest gets pushed to the end of the day. Trail guide is very full and does consume our day. I also remember feeling like you about WP and SL. We end up skipping Bible study most of the time, which I'm not happy with.

We love The Phonics Road.

Thank you so much Daisy. Your post is very encouraging to me. I understand what you are saying, I like using those subjects to engage my dd as well. I think those are the most "fun" subjects and so I try to get as much teaching of the skills in there as possible. That's one of the reasons I'm drawn to those AIO's that focus on history. Yet, we are still using other programs for Language Arts and finding that balance between too much and not enough is what's difficult for me. I seem to go too far one way or the other. My dd is the type that could care less about school, history, or any of it. She's just wants to be done with it. I find myself continually trying to engage her and I find that's easiest to do with Science and History, but then I tend to get carried away. The rest of my kids that I homeschool are all still so young (PreK and K) , so I'm only really focusing on Math and LAs with them. Anyways, I really appreciate your post. Especially your last comment, I'm going to try to remember that. :)

Thanks Daisy! Yes, throwing away the catalogs is probably one of the best things I could do, plus getting away from here (which I tried--asked for my account to be deleted and then found my way back somehow ;) ). I actually think I'm getting over the curriculum addiction. I've become much more relaxed, I've seen so much of it, perhaps that's why. In the end, it's all pretty much the same. I think I need to prioritize, but then I worry if I cut down on the history we won't be able to cover as much as I would like. It's a sickness, I know. :tongue_smilie: We could never cover it all, I know that. It's just convincing myself to chill (on those subjects) that is hard to accomplish.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I feel (have been for years) that our school is unbalanced. I LOVE history, and therefore I tend to choose curricula that is heavy on the history. In the past we've used SL, WP, Trail Guide to Learning, Learning Adventures, tried some VP, some MFW, etc... So you see, I have a bad habit of picking things that revolve around history and then choosing the All-In-One types like Trail Guide to Learning or Learning Adventures (with those I've supplemented). This type of all-in-one really consumes our homeschool. It's not just history but science too. Then there's writing and geography that tie into the history. I guess I have a love/hate relationship with these programs. I love how everything is tied together, it just makes it more meaningful. At the same time I feel I need to separate these subjects. It seems like we could accomplish more if I did so. I don't know, it makes it feel like one giant lesson which I still need to supplement. In the end it looks like we've done a lot (due to the notebooking pages, etc) but I still come out feeling empty. ?? This is hard to describe, I guess I feel unfulfilled. Sorry, I don't know if this is even making any sense. It always feels like the more important subjects of Math, Language Arts, and Bible, continually take a back seat to the less important content subjects. I just can't get into a groove without getting carried away with the history. Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do to fix it?

I'm interested as well. I've always admired MP's ability to balance everything so nicely.

We have a guinea pig and she is the sweetest pet. She is actually the best pet we've ever had. She's very gentle and oh sooooo easy to maintain. :)

I read Golden Goblet with my 6th grader but I wouldn't read it with a 1st grader. In fact, I have younger kids and I made sure we were alone when we read through it. I'm very conservative and didn't like the constant mentioning of false gods. There is also violence and possibly a scene or two that could be scary for young children.

:iagree: The TM is a main component of the program. You will miss so much of the teaching if you just use the workbook.

I voted "other" for Phonics Road and All About Reading.

We used RightStart Math A last fall. I was using it with a 4 and 5 year old. At first, we liked it and then began to dread it. I found the teacher's manual hard to follow. I'd have to read it a few times just to get what I was supposed to be teaching. Also the kids became really upset when I began to bring it out. So after a while we dropped it. We then used MEP a little and did various free worksheets online. I decided to buy BJU K since I had used it with my 12 year old way back when. It turns out that it's a huge hit with all of us. The kids beg for it. They are true worksheet lovers though. :) They often make me do more than one lesson with them at a time. I really love the TM. It is set up so you can see all the objectives, what supplies you will need, etc. It is very scripted and has tons of teacher helps, if you are insecure and need a little guidance (like me). I just read over it quickly and then we are good to go. I found both to be fairly teacher intensive but BJU is much easier for me to teach. We plan to stick with BJU Math.

Hi Donna, I have it here, but haven't used it yet. I plan to use it with my 6th grader. It includes both drawing and writing activities. There are snippets of their original journal entries. There is quite a bit of drawing, some may be harder than others, but I think your third grader could use it. Some of the drawing activities include drawing using a grid, drawing landscapes, animals, plants, portraits, drawing showing perspective, drawing using simple shapes, etc.... They also include some simple crafts like making a quill pen and homemade ink, making a paper plate snake, coloring pictures, etc.. Writing assignments range from journal writing, to poem writing, to writing a descriptive paragraph about a picture, etc.. Do you have any specific questions?

It sounds like you have well thought-out plans. :) I'm sure it will go fine for you and your family. It really is a lovely program. I hope you have a great year with it. And here's a bump, hopefully someone else can add some input.

Thank you Sandi! I really appreciate all those details. I have PR 3 here but haven't really looked at it yet. I also wanted to say, that I know exactly how you feel. :grouphug: My dd is accelerating through PR and we are in the same boat. She's currently in 6th and is a very reluctant writer. It's been a real struggle, I've also wished this process would be faster and she would be ahead of where she currently is. However, I think you're right, it's just going to take time. Mrs. Beers recommended doing Pr 3 and 4 at regular pace and that's what I plan to do. That will put her in 8th finishing PR 4, not really my ideal but that's just the way it's going to be. I know the writing really looks like it picks up in 3 and 4. I may also add in IEW in 8th.

I'm sorry. I hope he comes home safely. :grouphug:

Well I started out this fall using POE. We completed the first volume and stopped. I've picked it back up again on the second volume of POE and we are 4 weeks back into it. I'm beginning to feel like I felt when I first dropped it. It has a ton of stuff to do each day, but then I'm always left with feeling we need to supplement. Now keep in mind, I'm working with a 6th grader (POE was designed for 3rd-5th). I feel like the history is enough, I feel like the Science needs supplementing. I think the vocabulary/word study is enough, it really picks up in Volume 2. (At least it does at the highest level.) I already substitute the LAs with Phonics Road (which my dd is accelerating through). I had really hoped I could just use it as is with PR and keep going along. I've already bought POS and it looks like it's more challenging all the way around. However, I'm still planning to supplement and it's going to take some tweaking for us to use POS. Sorry to be a downer, I really LOVE this curriculum. I love the way things tie together. We have enjoyed the books, but I dislike the pace the books are read (I do not like having to stop reading in the middle of a chapter). I really hoped I could just do TGTL POS and leave well enough alone, I just don't feel comfortable that all our bases will be covered doing that.

Trail Guide to Learning from Geomatters Epi Kardia Learning Adventures Simply Charlotte Mason Charlotte Mason Help Ambleside Online

Have you ever looked at Epi Kardia? Although expensive, their Daily Lessons Plans might fit the bill. They have the most wonderful books!!

:iagree: There have been times when I skipped the DVD and we just worked through on our own. However, I don't feel like this is the preferred method and would not recommend it. I have found, like Carmen, when I watch the DVDs I get so much more out of it. The benefits are far reaching and it gives me that amazing teacher training. :001_smile:

I'm sorry I really don't have advice, but wanted to say that I completely understand where you are coming from. I just don't get this big independence push. I thought maybe I was the only one who felt that way. I am very involved in my children and their learning and I've chosen programs that have as much teacher interaction as possible. My oldest that I homeschool is 12, the others I'm schooling are still at the K and pre K age. So alot of what I chose would be too young for your kids. But I use BJU math for the little ones and Phonics Road for Language Arts. For my 12 year old I'm using Trail Guide to Learning. It has the parent and child interacting a lot, but I just recently got the next level in the mail (Paths of Settlement) and I noticed that it has the child becoming more independent doing all the reading. I love reading aloud to my children and will continue to do so, no matter what the curriculum says. I'm seriously thinking I'll be making my own in the future as well. I have found that reading aloud and spending this time with my girls has given us lots of opportunity for discussion and I'm not going to give it up. I've used SL and WP in the past and I think they are both good at fostering this.

Well, I've learned to never say never. ;) We started Latin For Children this year and really like the program. However, we didn't get very far into it. I just can't seem to find the time to do everything I would like to do in our school. It's been my plan to work LFC back in. I suppose if that never happens Latin Road may be a real possibility after PR 4.

This is our situation too. We own levels 1-3 but are still currently accelerating through PR 2. I plan to stick with it through all 4 levels. I find myself hoping that Mrs. Beers will come out with more levels. As of right now, I don't plan to use the Latin Road. I'd love something to have more levels to fill in the other grades. As much as I dislike watching the DVDs, the overall effectiveness of the program has been worth it to me. I have learned so much in the way of teacher training that this program has been worth every penny!

I've pretty much bought everything we will use. I plan to add a few more books (for read alouds, readers, etc). Almost everything has arrived and we've already started doing much of it.