Thank you!

If I remember correctly, in the early edition of WTM, it was stated that Saxon math includes geometry in their Algebra I and II books rather than having a separate text for geometry. I see now that Saxon publishes a geometry book. I'm confused as to what to do next for my daughter. She is just finishing Saxon Algebra I (and yes, there's been some geometry concepts throughout). Should I have her do Geometry next or move right on to Saxon Algebra II? Thanks...

My girls are in Saxon 5/4 and 7/6. If they do the facts practice, plus the mental math, plus all the lesson questions - it's exhausting! And very long. Especially in 7/6 when all the problems have multiple steps... How do you handle this?

Is anyone using this with their 6th grader? We're sort of slogging through it but it seems a little much for this age - also not explained extremely well. My dd11 seems to be understanding the basic concepts but it feels tedious to me. TWTM recommends it (and volume 2) for this age... I'm just wondering if we should keep plugging away or let it go? Is it necessary as a pre-req for courses down the road?

Looking for easy to use beginning drawing books for girls ages 8 and 10. I'm not a huge fan of Drawing with Children and hope someone has some other suggestions. Thanks!

I'm going to incorporate an audio book time for 2 of my boys this year, 1/2 hour a day and am looking for suggestions. Thanks!

Anyone using First Form with success? I just got the whole set (including DVDs) and plan to implement this week or next. Wondering if the teacher book plan is a good pace, or if you've found a different plan better? It will be for a 5th grader who has done Prima Latina and LC I. Thanks!

My daughter will be done with the SWB recommended Mind Benders A series in a month or so. I'm wondering what to do for the remainder of the year. SWB says to do the Pre K - book A4 as the primary 5th grade logic work. (Which we'll complete soon). She suggests doing Red Herrings if there is time or desire. I just noticed, though, that the Mind Benders have a series B and C as well. Those who have used the curriculum, what do you think would be better - going through B and C or switching over to Red Herrings (I haven't looked into that yet - is it a completely new format etc?) Thanks!

Looking for great books with a strong and virtuous girl as main character. Starting off the year with Andreola's Beautiful Girlhood and then wanting to hit some good literature to further discuss the ideas in BG. Any ideas?

Hi there, wondering if anyone knows the answer to this. Let's say you test your 2nd grader with the 3rd grade ITBS test (A9). But when asked what grade she's in, you write down 2nd. So are the results based on how other 2nd graders do on the 3rd grade test or in relation to other 3rd graders? Thanks in advance...

We did the Preamble to the Constitution (SchoolHouse Rock has a song/video that makes it easy - find it on iTunes), Gettysburg Address, States and Capitals, and the Presidents. We used a great song about the presidents to memorize them - search under "American Presidents song by Genevieve Madeline Ryan" Good luck!

We just finished Saxon 5/4 and are moving on to Saxon 6/5 with my dd9 - 10 in October. I found the lessons to be incredibly long if you do it all: fact sheet, mental math, lesson. The book says not to skip anything, but it seems to me that it's an awful lot of math for one day. What do others do?

Is there anything/anywhere that puts the whole WTM suggestions into a scope and sequence all the way through? I know the book lays it all out, but I'm just wondering if there's a nice, concise document that boils it down a bit more?

Anyone have experience with these two? My understanding is that Climbing To Good English is very similar to Rod and Staff but uses a workbook, rather than having the students rewrite everything... are there more differences, is one superior? Thanks in advance!

Saxon is so repetitive - which I love - that you can easily get by without the TM. I haven't used it yet with my girls - one is almost done with 5/4, the other is 1/4 of the way through 3. When they get to a new concept, you just explain it to them and they'll meet it again and again. Plenty of practice on it. I suppose if you don't feel comfortable teaching math, you may want the TM, but they don't even have them after Saxon 3, so it's fairly basic stuff you're teaching. In terms of the meeting book, I always felt it was overkill. Most kids get to know a calendar without it and graphing the weather is learned after one or two times - not daily!

I studied Greek in grad school and I think I remember using the "symbols" function in a regular font to insert greek words. It's the same function that always you to put an accent on letters etc... It just includes the greek alphabet as well.

We've been using McGuffey for this purpose. My dd9 is on the 5th reader, which she reads out loud to me probably 4 times a week for about 5-10 minutes. Is there a good measure of when we don't need this anymore? We seem to be at that point, but maybe I'm overlooking something? Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to respond to the above question - I was also very interested because most of my friends are using IEW, even for their young students (2nd, 3rd grade). While I've never used the program, I know my 4th grader would HATE the model, yet she loves to write. I wonder if pushing that much structure on young students - the way they are doing more and more in schools - will ultimately stifle creativity and the ability to come up with original work?

I absolutely have to have time to re-organize, get my thoughts in order, read my Bible for a bit etc. I would not do well without this time. After lunch, my littlest ones sleep and I let the older three watch a video from Netflix or the library. We don't have any TV/cable so this is the ONLY "screen time" they get during the day. I should probably have them read, but they do lots of that on their own without being prodded. It is also a nice way of moving the day along because they look forward to this down time. I can gently remind them that work has to be completed before video time.

explanation! I'm glad to know that I wasn't missing something completely obvious.

Am I missing something very obvious? I'm doing some standardized test prep intermittently with my 2nd grader. In a Scoring High book, the question was as follows: which one of the following four words is different from the others: king, rule, crown, royal Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot, just what I needed to know!

Couple of issues: 1. Does anyone not do spelling? We've been using Spelling Workout and it seems more like busywork. My girls (9 and 7) can memorize the list for a test, but often spell the word wrong randomly after that. They seem to learn better by just my constant correction of their written work. 2. Is there a good grammar and writing program all in one? It seems there are plenty of grammars and plenty of writing programs, but I want something that teaches you the grammar and then has you use it in a writing sample. My oldest has been doing Writing Tales, which we really like, but I don't believe they ever get to sentence diagramming, passive voice etc, or even detailed paragraph formation. Are Rod and Staff or Shurley good for both grammar and writing? Thanks!

I'm trying to explain the pieces of Shurley's two point expository paragraph. Can anyone give me a sample paragraph using this model? Maybe one of your children's work? If not, any advice would be great. Thanks!

The music studio my daughters take lessons from (one on piano, one violin) is changing some policies etc that will make it too expensive for us. Both my husband and I took piano, so we feel comfortable carrying on lessons by ourselves with our piano student. Violin is a different matter though. She's about 1/2 way through the first Suzuki book. Any recommendations for great do it yourself violin? Is it possible? Recommended? She's only seven so even if we just finish off the year this way, it would give us time to find a new teacher later... Thanks for any advice, suggestions you may have.