I posted nearly the same question not that long ago for my second grader. He's a much more natural speller, but I still wanted him to know the rules around spelling. AAS just seemed like overkill and my day is so full already. If there was an independent AAS, I'd be in heaven! Here's the thread. What I've decided to do is stick with AAS until he's finished level 3 (he starts next week) then switch to Megawords. Although I still plan on checking out phonics zoo more closely . . . Good luck!

There is some copywork and dictation, but I wouldn't say it shows up regularly, even on a weekly basis. If you wanted to add more dictation and copy work, maybe you could use parts of his narrations in science and history once or twice a week? One day he could copy a few sentences he narrated to you, one day he could write from dictation a few sentences? If it's "quality" sentences you want him to copy or take from dictation, maybe find some from his MP reading? wanted to add: Do you have the Writing with Ease text (not the workbooks, but the little hardcover book?) It helps you choose appropriate sentences for copywork and dictation on your own.

I think if it were me, I'd do something completely different. For us, that would mean much more child led learning. I love these kind of books. I picked the one I thought might suit your girls, but click on the author's name, she's created a ton of varied journals and workbooks for homeschooled kids and moms! I have one of these for each of my kids but haven't used them so far! My two eldest have dyslexia, so I always feel like not enough is getting done and my third, while advanced, is such a dreamer who'd way rather play, that I'm just not sure it's right for him. But maybe it would be perfect for you?

Another vote for CLE. Two of my kids, one especially, needed more incremental, way more review. CLE has it all, it's been so great for him! As a bonus, now, after two years of CLE, he can complete the entire 'review' section of the daily lessons on his own and it has really boosted his confidence. I adore CLE Math.

I also want to recommend Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row volumes! My daughter will be 4 on Saturday and we've had a really great time reading through the books in B4FIAR this past school year! She loves that she gets to do school like the big kids, and I love that it's so casual, with very little prep. Its prompted me to do things with her that I have never thought of before (like visit a jewellry shop and a dry cleaners and feed our ducks bread crumbs lol) Just lots of discussion and sharing good books. Looking forward to starting volume 1 of FIAR !

My 10 year old dyslexic reader really wanted to do Beautiful Feets History of the Horse Unit Study and I don't have time to help her through/read aloud all those novels! I paired up audiobooks with the actual novel and she reads/listens to them together. I live in Canada so immersion reading on the kindle isn't available to me (SUCH a disappointment!) so this is my best bet. So either of those options are perhaps good for your daughter as well, at least some of the time? It has a lot of advantages for my daughter: She gets through books at a pace that keeps the story line coherent for her, she's encountering really great stories (and vocabulary) that would be otherwise unavailable to her, she can be proud of the books she's reading and not be held back by her decoding/fluency skills, can pursue an interest, and she's improving her fluency by reading along with a really great narrator. I've found the matching audiobooks either through my library or on audible.com.

I think you probably could if you wanted to. We just finished Narratives 1 and it doesn't seem a stretch from WWE2 or ELTL (we did 1/3 of ELTL 2 so I'm familiar with the layout). I was a little disappointed in the teacher's manual. There's not a lot of extra information, mostly just answers and few things to help you out with some of the discussions. I also own Writing Strands 3 but I've never used it. I can answer questions as to layout or types of assignments, but not how they play out or give any opinions. They are cheap books, so if you're very undecided it wouldn't be a big deal to purchase it if you can't get a hold of it any other way (that's why I have it lol!) Edited to add: the W&R series is fun. At least, it's not dry and boring - my dysgraphic 10 year old prefers it over any other writing. There's a lot of playing with words, rewriting sentences in many different ways. The little stories they use are interesting. We're currently going through IEW-A because I feel like they teach some important skills not really touched on in W&R (although perhaps they'll get to it?) but we'll go back to W&R because we both like it.

Sorry. Double post. See below (that's the one I edited before I realized it doubled lol)

Okay. I think I've got a few things figured out for my rising 6th grader. Just FYI, I mostly consider her 5th grade due to various learning challenges: Grammar: Finish FLL 4 Spelling: Finish All About Spelling 4, start 5 Writing: Finish IEW-A if not done, and CAP Narrative 3 Math: CLE 600 Science: Elemental Science Biology 2 History: History through Canadian Eyes? 20th Century. For about six weeks? Then start Ancients as per WTM 4th edition Logic: Logic Countdown Literature: finish History of the Horse by Beautiful Feet and finish off the year with history-related reads. At least one Shakespeare read and poetry reads. Geography: Visits to The Middle East Music: ??? Art: ??? Maybe an outside class? Also: swimming lessons through Red Cross.

Thanks OhElizabeth. I appreciate all you had to say. I'll do some serious contemplating and look through VP and SL and TOG (and I reserved the book in our library). Maybe you're right. . . Maybe I'd be better off with a historical fiction approach . . . And maybe *I'll* do the logic stage history class :P I've TRIED to read "Dyslexic Advantage" but couldn't get through it. . . But with so may recommendations over the last little while, it sounds like I need to just do it.

They like parts of science and history. They like experiments and historical fiction and the adventurous parts like explorers and fur traders. I *think* Usborne is fairly accessible? Mostly because it's in smaller chunks, like a few subtitles, a paragraph for each subtitle, lots of pictures. More like a magazine maybe? They aren't thrilled with outlining, but I think if I let them dictate instead of writing, they wouldn't mind. It's just the physical act of writing part that they don't like. Just to be clear, I don't expect them to do all science and history independently, just the reading of Usborne Encyclopedia and maybe eventually the outlining. I'm certainly willing to walk them through experiments, projects, etc. And using documentaries as rabbit trails (I also thought of Brain Pop for when we're short on time) is a great idea. But you're right. I go overboard with the planning. It would serve me well to remember they have opinions and preferences and limitations that are all valid. Maybe I should talk to them a little bit lol?!

My older two will be approximately fifth grade next fall. Here's what I *think* we'll use: Math: CLE 400, 500, and/or 600 (depending on the kid and our progress) Continue with Mathmagic, Math reading and Family math etc once a week. Grammar: FLL 4 (continued) Spelling: AAS 4 and 5 Reading: REWARDS for one, Read Naturally for the other (or some other fluency program?) Science: Elemental Biology for the Logic Stage History: WTM History with Usborne Encyclopedia and corresponding Literature (with audiobook accompaniment) Writing: CAP W&R Narrative 2, maybe continue on to the next book. Maybe Reading and Reasoning 1 (or just finish Reading and Reasoning beginning) Logic: Undecided? Geography: Undecided. Foreign Language: Continue ASL classes. . . continue to dabble in French. Or just bite the bullet and do Rosetta French . . . Art, Music and PE: outside classes/lessons in the community.

No, I know. They are at where they are at. I think I just have a bit of a "planning itch" and I drool over Well Trained Mind every March. I don't want to underestimate them either though. It's a tough balance to find

I think I am. But I really wish I wasn't. I have a 10 year old dyslexic that I say will be in sixth grade in the fall, but really, she's more like entering fifth grade (except for math in which she is right on par). She's been assessed as having both moderate dyslexia and dysgraphia. I also have a 9 year old son who I *suspect* has both dyslexia and dysgraphia (and maaaaybe dyscalculia?) but all of those in a milder form than his sister. He's reading well now, about grade level, but he's pencil phobic - although LOVES to tell stories and play with words aloud. So for Language Arts I consider them at the same level. What I'd really *LOVE* to do is follow the Well Trained Mind plan for Science and History. Reading through a spine (Usborne Encyclopedia of History and Science), following rabbit trails, outlining, all that jazz. I feel like maybe they could handle the fifth grade requirements with accommodations? I'd love for them to tackle the 2-page spread readings together but without me hand-holding eventually, after some training from me. They have different strengths and weaknesses and maybe could help each other through it. I'd love to use that time (while they are reading) to work with the two littles I have. . . one of whom (so far) is advanced and needing some more challenges than I can offer due to time limits. I'm considering using speech-to-text app like dragon dictation for the outlining. Or uploading the pdfs from Elemental Science Biology so they can be filled out orally through an app. . . I know no one knows my particular kids and situation or can possibly predict if this is going to work. But does anyone else drool over the WTM methods and hesitate? Go for it? Not sure what I'm looking for here lol. Maybe just sympathy, and/or encouragement! Or suggestions? What did you guys do to complete a more grown-up (as far as 10 year olds go!) science and history?

What?! My kids roll on the floor over Mo Willems lol! That IS blasphemy :P Me and my oldest both died of boredom over Bob books I was literally falling asleep next to him on the couch! But that lead me to All About Reading Readers and I switched over the full program in level 2. Love those stories! (As do many others I see upthread) Another vote for Usborne early readers too. Both the phonics readers (Frog on a Log comes to mind) and the little ones in their reading program - Very First Reading maybe? It had a page for a more fluent reader and a page for a beginning reader to read, so they were a little more lively and interesting because of it. Pirate Pat is the only title I can come up with offhand.

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated!

Thank you very much for all your replies! I'm sorry I don't have time to reply this morning (it's town day. Packing the whole kit and kaboodle up for the day) OhElizabeth, just wanted to quickly add that when she used the term remediated, I think she meant more like she had good methods behind her, solid phonics, not necessarily that she was "done". I haven't tested her reading yet this year, I'm hoping it's high fourth grade or maybe even low fifth, but that might be a stretch. I didn't get CTOPP scores from the psychologist - don't even know what that is? I'll look through the papers again, but maybe the assessment process is different here. And no problems with considering her a fifth grader again (except for math cause she's average/above average in math). I usually group her with her younger brother for all content subjects anyhow. Our cut off is December 31, but many parents keep their kids back if they're born in late November or December. Thanks again every one!

I have a 10 year old girl, diagnosed six months ago as both dyslexic and dysgraphic. No surprise there. In the past, maybe 18 months ago, she was assessed by an O-G tutor who confirmed my suspicions that she was dyslexic but she was mostly re-mediated as far as reading goes. I understood that to mean that the methods I was using were good and she had solid phonics and "word attack" tools behind her. At this point she's reading through "History of the Horse" unit study by Beautiful Feet books with audio book/hard copy pairing and I think that's working fairly well for her. She is just over half way through Horizons Elevate phonics (their program for older kids). She completed REWARDS last year. The years before that, we worked veeerrrrry slowly through OPGTR. I don't know that any of these programs have been AMAZING for her. Just a steady year's worth of reading improvement each year, according to standardized testing we do in May, although the results are always a year or so behind where she "should" be. At this point, I'd say she's reading at an approximate grade four level. What do I do now? In the fall, she'll be in sixth grade, about to turn 11. What isn't babyish, doesn't require a TON of input/time/money from me (I home school three other kids, one of whom is also mildly dyslexic)? It will need to propel her forward (fourth grade reading is not adequate, is it?!) When does phonics stop? If ever? I'd guess to say that she'll probably still need phonics review if not instruction, but fluency is more of an issue than anything. Limitations besides oodles of time and money: We don't have any appropriate reading tutors in our small town. Internet connection isn't adequate for skype tuturing (we're very rural!). I live in Canada, so neither Learning Ally nor Kindle Immersion are available to us. I tried!

I'm looking for a semi or mostly independent cooking class for a 10 year old cooking/baking enthusiast. She's dyslexic, so reading and writing are not her preferred way to learn, so video components would be great. Right now, she's baking 95% independently in the kitchen, but really only makes cookies, occasionally a cake or muffin. So she's not an absolute beginner by any means, I'd love to broaden her range and introduce her to new things (hello healthy food!), but I neither have time nor do I she and work well together lol. I save my patience for reading, writing and math lol! If it had nutritional information, healthy eating etc, that would be even better. I've looked at the home economics course by CLE, but I have some concerns about conservative Christian content (especially around gender roles) as well, it's very print based. But I love their thorough, incremental approach. I'm willing to tweak things for content I'm not comfortable (we're secular) but I'm wondering what else is out there. Everything I find seems to be written for very little kids (for example, teaching five year olds to slice a banana) or high school courses for teenagers. Any suggestions?

Man, I'm right there with you. Only my dd (dysgraphic, dyslexic) is only 10 (going on 16). I'm not looking forward to the teen years, lemme tell ya. She isn't nearly the fluent reader yours is, but I "farmed that out" to Horizons online. We've managed to mostly find a truce setting for AAS 3, which she is almost done, about to start AAS4. For writing we're doing CAP Narrative 1, mostly orally, occasionally I scribe, occasionally she uses Dragon Dictation and very rarely do I ask her to actually use a pen or pencil to write. She has so much trouble getting her thoughts on to paper. Even if she does write something down, it's usually seriously lacking in energy, and almost impossible to decipher. After three years of blood, sweat and tears (well okay, no blood, but definitely some meltdowns) she's getting to a place where she can do simple dictations, which I consider a huge win. I'm making an effort to use Dragon Dictation for more stuff because the results are pretty good and the process is almost bearable. My slightly younger son is doing IEW A. I suspect he's also dysgraphic. Contemplating getting him checked out. It's hard for him. He can't really do it independently at first, but by the end of the week of practicing one thing, he's able to. He has a great attitude, generally, though. I really want my daughter to start it as soon as we're done CAP, which will be some time in the next few weeks. I think it teaches some great skills, especially to kids whose comprehension of written text may not be that great or who struggle creating a coherent sentence/paragraph/etc. But I am dreading it, because I know she'll find it challenging which means I'll need to be there for every.single.step. so she can make sure I know how.much.she.hates.it. I think OneStepAtATime had a great idea! Hiring a "cool" college kid would be a great idea!! Wondering if there's someone nearby who I could coerce pay to do that? Hmmmmmm. . . . I know she wouldn't be able to do an online class without serious effort on my part, so it almost doesn't seem worth it at this point. I know, I'm not much help. Just wanted to say that you're not alone!

Sorry everyone, I was out of town for a few days. Thanks so much for the replies! I think we're all of the same mind. I'm don't even know that we'll continue LETL. He's not learning anything that he won't learn from Song School Latin as far as grammar goes and I think we'll make a bit of time for AAS each day too. I'll revamp over the holidays :) And I'll order The Way Things Work! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences!

?! You are not hallucinating. I see it, too! Because they now have a 7th edition? I'm not sure, but I've downloaded it. Thanks :D

Schadenfreude - when I clicked on your first links, I also noticed your third link! There are a lot of good options out there, I suppose. Thank you! How do you use the books you own? Calbear - you're probably right about science encyclopedias being less than inspirational as far as good writing goes. I looked it up, we're using English Lesson Through Literature ( here ) but it is by Kathy Jo Devore. It has copywork each day, a bit of grammar discussion and a quick exercise. It's light, but covers the basics so we can do other things like Latin, and the copy work and reading he can do independently. But since I was too cheap to buy him the work book for the copy work and I already copy out the selection by hand for him anyhow, I guess it's not a lot of work to find better copy work from somewhere else. Books I'm reading to him at night, or some other laid out copy work source. Perhaps even WWE, which I own in levels 1-3. That's a good thought, thank you.

Hello everyone. I really wish I could figure out how to get on here on a daily basis, but alas, it doesn't seem to be right now. Penguin, I'm right there with you . Despit best intentions, I have spells where I'm completely MIA. Good news about that is that I'm probably just off doing what I should be doing, rather than just reading and writing about it lol! I'm scratching my head over my children over here. Oldest is such a grump I don't even like working with her half the time, but at least she can do 75% of her stuff on her own. Her other parents and I have been making noises about private school next fall . . . which I'm not sure I really want since I predict getting her on the bus by 700 am and doing homework in the evening will be just as much of an ordeal as trying to work through something hard at home. And I like homeschooling! But it may preserve a bit of relationship, that's for sure. Actually, my second kid is rolling along really nicely, progressing everywhere very well. He was a late reader (perhaps mildly dyslexic?) and I can see the same kind of time will be necessary with writing. But he devours audiobooks (thank goodness for a great library system!) so I'm fairly confident that once he gets the mechanics of writing under his belt, he written work will be much more fluent. He has a lot to say! My third. Man. He's such a puzzle! I asked the General Education board for advice on perhaps skipping Literature as a part of "school" and just doing science type reading. I'm also thinking I'm going to continue with AAS with him, at least until we finish level 2 or 3. I only stopped last year because he was going to outpace his two older siblings and he was only in grade 1 anyhow. He's just about done this year's math. Only a few chapters left. . . that's including supplements with LOF, Logic Safari and Challenging Word Problems. All of which he does on his own. The only reason I worry about him is because I worry he's not being challenged, that he's not learning to work hard for what he wants. I'm sorry. I don't know why I write this here. This is sort of like a year in review so far, rather than accountability.

I have a very inquisitive seven year old boy who reads well above a 5th grade level. He just finished reading Wizard of Oz for LETL 2 to give you an idea. I also bought the audio book just to help him out with lengthy chapters - he reads along with it if he likes, but didn't always choose to. He reads constantly outside of school - currently enjoying Guardians of Gahoule series. I don't worry about him not reading good books - we have a million, I read aloud to him every night, we have a large audiobook library. Lately I've notice that he's constantly asking questions! Why are there tides? How do magnets work? Why are the bubbles in the pot (of hot water) mostly coming up around the outside and not in the middle? Look at all that steam! So why does hot air rise? How do batteries make flashlights light up? I can't keep up to him and I admit our science is a bit light (my older two are dyslexic and dysgraphic and we're focusing on reading and WRITING this year). I'm considering getting him a science encyclopedia/spine and copying what LETL does as far as copy work and narration goes from that. I'm okay with leaving grammar off the docket for now since he also does Song School Latin. Is this a good idea? Am I missing some Terrible Consequence if I do this? Any recommendations? I have an Usborne Internet Linked Science encyclopedia, but it may have too small of print for him I always sort of thought of it as high school level, though that may be off. Any other middle school level encyclopedia to recommend? Kingfisher? Or would an entire encyclopedia be too big and awkward. Better to break it down into "fields"? Or should I consider something else entirely? It just has to be semi-independent (or at least have some independent work and some teacher led stuff). And I prefer to have less screens rather than more as our family's computer is often taken. Although perhaps not so much in the afternoon . . . so if you think it would work, let me know :) Thanks!