There is a yahoo group called Hannah_hs_helps that has timeline figures. I think you go under files and then history to find them.

Thanks! I haven't heard of this before. Off to check out samples! :)

Thanks! I did use them once or twice, but maybe I should just print off several topics like you suggested. That would be easy enough to assign a few a day.

Yes. We've been doing all of that. Story problems are one of his issues b/c he skims over stuff and doesn't pay attention to what they are asking for. I think he just needs more daily review. Thanks though! :)

Long story short: We used Rightstart B-E and used MM as a supplement bc my ds needed extra practice. This worked well. This past year (5th) we just used MM5 (still not finished yet) but it's clear he needs more review to keep things fresh in his mind. He seems to do ok at the time he's learning it, but really struggles to retain it (sometimes even for the test). I'm using Keys to Fractions and Decimals before we continue in MM. But I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for adding a short, daily review. Not pages of one topic. But something like Rightstart's "warmup" or the reviews I've seen at the beginning of other programs. I've thought about switching programs, but not sure what I'd go to. Ugh! School starts in another week so I need to make up my mind soon!! (We'll have the "Keys to" series to get us going but not having a firm plan is driving me insane!)

Thanks for posting the CW schedules!

We liked Apologia for elementary. It seemed to have a depth that other programs we did were lacking. We often didn't do the experiments because we had already done similar ones before, so we just discussed them (and if I remember right there was only one per chapter-so maybe 14 in a book). They suggest you do one book per year, but you can do one per semester if you don't want to study one subject that long. That's what we did and it worked well.

Thank you so much for the replies!!! At least I think I have narrowed it down to 3 choices now ( BJU , CLE and Lials) which is much less overwhelming. :). I'm going to print off CLE's placement test and see how he does with that and try to read up all I can on Lial's. Hopefully I can get something ordered by the end of the week! :)

Sorry. Yes this is for my 6th grader. I am going to look at BJU this week, but thanks for s&s link! I will check that out. 8FillstheHeart: I will check out Lial's as well. Do they have a program that I can use through high school? I'd love to find something that I can just use straight through as much as possible so I that I don't have to go pick and choose each year. (laziness, I know. :001_rolleyes: )

Math Mammoth just isn't sticking with my oldest. He's doing just "ok" (B's and C's). I need something with more review and clearer explanations. The problem is every program that sounds like it might fit the bill, I keep reading negative reviews about it. Sigh. So here is what I have heard about the programs that I've considered: Saxon 7/6: I thought this sounded good b/c it seems to have a lot of review. I've read several places that kids that use this can't do similar math problems if they aren't written in the "Saxon" way. Is this true? I'm not even sure what they mean by this, but obviously I want something he can apply outside of the textbook. MUS: Haven't taken the placement for this, but I've heard that upper levels (Pre-A on up) are extremely light. BJU: Ironically, I've heard (from different sources) this is very intense and I've also heard it is below grade level. So not sure what to think about that...but I will get to see this one at a hs display this week. Others that might work: CLE, Rod and Staff, ???? Help me out?! TT would probably not work for him because he doesn't focus well on his own. He really needs me hanging over him to make sure he gets done in a timely manner. If he had something computer based I could easily see him sitting there for 2 hours and not even finishing the assignment. I'm so frustrated that I didn't get to a convention this year so I could look at these in person! Anyway, can someone tell me if the reviews I've read are accurate or not? Or help me place this kid in a math program.

I have to wait till I can get my friend's Sonlight from her (I'm borrowing it for history this year) so I haven't planned a lot yet. We are for sure doing: King Arthur by Green Across Five Aprils Number the Stars Westing Game Poetry: Kipling, Whittier, Longfellow and Dunbar I have a few short stories I've selected to discuss To beef up Sonlight Core E, I'm having him read: Alexander Graham Bell biography (Always Inventing) George Washington Carver biog. (Sowers) Michael Faraday, Father of Electronics Abraham Lincoln's World Story of Inventions I also have him read a book of his choice off the "free read list" from Ambleside. These are more "literature" type books. He'll be in year 5 and usually only reads one per month or so. The ones that I've already bought (so he doesn't really get a choice after all, lol) are: Treasure Island Goodbye Mr. Chips Lad, a Dog Anne of Green Gables We'll be doing Oliver Twist, a couple of Shakespeare plays and Kim as well, but those will be read-a-louds or audiobooks and we'll discuss. And then of course whatever is included in Sonlight. I haven't got to look through this yet, so I'm not sure if the reading level is what I'm hoping for. If it is, we might cut back some of the extra history but if not we might be adding.

I put in a request to my library and they bought 11 of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :party:

Hmm....maybe I'll give ES another look. It was the Usborne book that he disliked, so maybe the Kingfisher would be a better choice. Focus on Middle School Science has a geology program that I just noticed in my Rainbow catalog, so maybe I can mix that in as well.

Thanks so much! I don't mind hearing that it's not what I'm looking for...much rather hear it now than find out after I've paid $180! I will check out the Tops book. That sounds interesting. How are you liking Elemental? Maybe I need to take another look at it and consider adding in some library books to read...

I'm looking at this for fall for my 6th grader. He really wants to study geology, and I'm not impressed with what I've seen so far. I've never used anything from Sonlight before, and I liked the looks of this program, but was wondering if I could get some feedback from Sonlight users. :thumbup1: Does it go into the Scientific Method at all? How are the labs? Would this particular science (Level G: Geology, Physics and Origins) be something you'd recommend? If this program stinks, lol, what would you recommend for geology/earth science instead? (I'm eliminating Elemental b/c reading from the encyclopedias drives us nuts.) :)

I used this plan for decluttering in 8 weeks. http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/06/8-weeks-to-a-less-cluttered-home.html Basically, you take one small area per day, set a timer for 30min., and the goal is to get rid of at least 10 things as you straighten. I tweaked her list some to fit our home, but I found that to begin with it was HARD to find the ten items, but after a couple of days I found I was getting rid of more and more as I saw the progress. We're going to be moving and I didn't want to box up and move stuff we didn't need...but by doing this I realized that a lot of what I thought I 'needed', I really didn't need.

We did them for the first time this year (5th and 3rd). I did them mainly to give them experience with the "testing under pressure" aspect. Having to have a specific time limit, having no outside help if you have a question, filling in bubbles in the right order (this was a biggie for one of my kids who never does problems in the order that they're listed)....these are all things that are simple, yet can be frustrating if you've never done them. Also, what do you do when you're facing problems that you've never seen? Do you sit there for twenty minutes trying to work on it, or do you move on? Or should you just guess? Stuff like that. I'm hoping this will all be second nature by the SAT's/ACT's, so the only things they are worrying about are the questions. :) But I think taking the practice tests only could give the same benefits.

:iagree: These were the two we read for school in ms/hs and I loved them. The Westing Game is also great (I'm using it next year for my ds!)

I find a lot of printables on Pinterest and by searching Google. I would love to find ONE comprehensive source without having to spend so much time online.

I also order from the publisher. They have some of the nicest customer service people I've ever had to deal with. :001_smile:

My email said grade 5 will be ready in a couple of days! Plus if you use the code there is a sale going on.

Wow! Thanks so much! That really helps me a get a picture of it, and it sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. :) I could continue with Rod and Staff grammar and our math, and then use MFW for all the rest. I keep forgetting about the book basket with MFW, :001_rolleyes: so I was comparing the amount of "books" in Sonlight to MFW. Not sure why I keep forgetting about that since that was one of the things that appealed to me about it initially.

We started Plutarch this year for 5th grade. I read it aloud to him and then we discuss it together. He just turned 11 a week or so ago, and I wasn't sure he could handle it, but he did a great job with comprehension. (That said, we joined back with our weekly co-op at Christmas and only made it through one of the lives.) Shakespeare we are going to try starting next year. My youngest will be old enough for AO yr.4 and I think he will be fine with it if we take it slow with lots of discussion. We will see.... I know AO says to start both during yr. 4, but "I" couldn't handle figuring out both in one year. ;)

Does MFW include enough literature on its own (for the grades 4-8th rotation) or do you need to supplement? I'm looking for a rising 4th and 6th grader and was especially wondering if it includes things like vocab, lit. analysis etc. enough for 6th grade on its own. (My computer has had some glitch lately and I am not able to bring up the samples!) I typically don't mind adding in here and there where needed, but this coming year will be stressful as we will be moving in the fall, so I'm trying to choose something as streamlined as possible. Sonlight looks like it does this, but I think My Father's World appeals to me more.... We would be using the Modern level, if that matters.

I agree with SCM.