I must not be using the right search terms, because I can't easily find a good answer to this question either in the forums or online in general! I just bought a Proclick and am looking at buying spiral coils to use with it. I know that with the proclick spines I can do up to 110 pages, but can I buy larger coils to thread in myself and then do larger books? What's the largest any of you have done as one book? And on a related note, do you just use the 4:1 pitch even though the Proclick is a 3:1? I've read that for big books you need a 2:1 machine or a machine that can do 3:1 or 2:1 - but the cheapest one I see that does both is $600 something - a BIT more than the Proclick. :) Asking because it would be nice to have some manuals which are maybe 250 pages all as one spiral bound book and wondering if I can do that? Thanks so much for your input!!

I just recently heard of this great series/have become intrigued... my friend google is having a hard time explaining to me the difference between the original and the 1959 version though? I see the original is 10 books and the 1959 is only 8 volumes? Any thoughts/votes one way or the other on which one would be best? Thanks for input!

thanks! a shelf saver for sure :)

>>>> As far as grammar rules, my dd is working on memorizing a great grammar poem that we found in Living Memory. It is long and my take her all year, but I think it will definitely be all she need for now. She also listens to Grammarland (also free on librovox) at the pace of about a chapter a week. She is actually learning a lot of grammar through studying Latin, which is really for her big brother but she still absorbs a lot. >>>>> What a neat idea, memorizing a whole grammar poem! Can you share the name of it so I can look it up?

I think as long as you're comfortable with the classical idea that we're just training their minds when they're young, and the expression and ability to reason is more for higher grade levels, than WWE is perfect. I'm only on level 1 (with my 6 year old) but I agree sometimes I wonder if it's really "preparing" him to write. But at the same time I see that he is NOT comfortable with coming up with his own stories et. So this approach works for him, and hopefully we're training his brain so when the time comes all of the tools will be there, in place, ready for him to use to express himself. :)

Last year my K student who wanted more "fun" enjoyed working through all the Grade 1 areas in IXL online (we have a paid subscription). He could do it on his own, but he's a good reader. I like that there is a button to have the questions read out loud to your child if they need that and you're not around. It's not lots of flashy animation, but he did enjoy it! I'm in the minority and find I didn't like Dreambox. I thought it moved slow, and my child was somewhat frustrated by the program.

:iagree::iagree: Mine too. He'll zip through a work page without reading what is being asked for. I almost admire the confidence required to come up with answers without really knowing the question. Or I wish I did! :) We discuss it, quite regularly... I am just hoping it is a stage he'll grow out of!

Thanks for the link, I didn't see that one somehow. It's not quite what I'm after but it's a start. Maybe I'll have to come up with question guides and post one myself? :) And thanks for the offer on the ntoebooking sheet - I sent a PM! I am excited to get the DVDs. I've been watching the price since June... I know that many of the episodes are on YouTube, it's just so much more convenient to have them ready to pop into the DVD player... !

So I just purchased the Magic School Bus DVD collection on Amazon. The price dropped to $42 from $55 as of yesterday! I am wondering: does anyone know of any supplemental resources/guides that have been put together to use with the DVDs? Meaning - if I let the kids watch an episode in the afternoon while I'm doing something else... is there a resource somewhere that has question lists for the episodes, so I can quiz the kids/see if they retained anything of useful educational content from their TV time? :) I know I could ask them open ended questions based on what the episode title was, but short of watching all the episodes myself I was wondering if there's a "cheat sheet" of sorts for parents. Maybe that's just a crazy idea - but I've tried googling it using a few different search terms and nothing. I also checked out the Scholastic site and didn't find anything pertinent. So before I give up on the idea I thought I'd appeal to the collective knowledge found here! :)

I'm using it with WWE too. I think they're enough different that they go well together. :)

I'd agree that if he wants to be reading then he must be getting SOMETHING out of it! :) Sometimes I wonder how much my 6 year old is retaining from some of the big books he's been plowing through lately - it helps me to have him read a random page or two out lout to me every so often, and then explain a bit of the plot happening around that section in the story. It comforts me that he's "getting" it.

It is a fun resource, well put together and you certainly can't beat the price. :) I used level 1 with my 6 year old and enjoyed it - I would recommend it!. I wanted something a bit more scripted so we're doing AAS right now, but depending on learning styles of my younger ones I may come back to this program in the future.

If it helps with your decision on when to buy the first three books, last time I checked in with BA via email they said they are targeting end of Jan to release the 4th book. Which means it might more likely be sometime in Feb... I think their shipping charges were quite reasonable, so I just went ahead and ordered what was out and I'll add in D when they get it done!

People have suggested just buying the word lists from Phonetic Zoo to start with, then you can see if it's a system that would work for you/if the words are the right level. Or you could do the placement test on their website. My understanding is it's good to transition to it after Level 3 of AAS.

I love the scripted approach and multi sensory engagement approach provided by All About Spelling. Plus the fact it's based on phonograms and the spelling rules. We're on Level 2 and will go through at least Level 3, I haven't decided if we will transition to The Phonetic Zoo at that point!

I use Teaching Textbooks because my son enjoys it, and it's hands off for me. So I know math will get done even when I'm too busy to be really hands on with him. We are planning to supplement with Life of Fred (night time story reading!), Singapore, and Beast Academy. But we are math obsessed around here. :)

Having my kids memorize the basic facts is important to me. Yes, you may be be able to conceptually understand higher math without it... but it's just so nice to think 7x9 and KNOW what it is, and not always be stopping and pondering on that type of step in the process! I bought these flash cards: http://www.amazon.com/Addition-0-12-facts-Flash-Cards/dp/B001JTMM1Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1345782146&sr=8-2&keywords=addition+flash+cards for all 4 of the basic operations. We pull out the super easy ones, and work with the rest. I give my son a stop watch because he's really into beating his own records. We see how fast he can get through the whole pile. He has addition down fast enough to satisfy him and me (although I've read that a fact is "memorized" if a child can recall it in less than 7 seconds? that seems like an awfully long time if something is memorized...). Anyway, now that we're "done" with addition we'll pull them out a few times a month to keep the skills there. And we're working our way through the subtraction decks, and then also multiplication at the same time. I also like Big Brainz (it's a computer game) for drilling these facts. You have to slam in the answers to the questions as fast as you can to get through the levels/defeat the monster/etc. I don't know if I'd completely quit my other math work, but if he really has trouble with remembering all the basic facts I might spend half my time focusing on them until he has them a little more under his belt. If it's important to you!

I'm in the "because we LOVE math" camp! And, as has been more eloquently stated by others, because each program provides a little something different. A solid understanding of math and the different ways to approach each type of problem, and a love of math... it's all essential to me! Since the kids enjoy it, I don't see any reason why NOT to! :)

precious!

ahah! search by book number? brilliant... now I can justify subscribing. Thank you so much for that tip. It will save me some heart ache and time I think. Too bad not all the books come up magically, but 3 out of 4 that I tried did!

I like that thinking. Rationalization for my obsessive scheduling and comfort with "order" and "getting things done" in the morning. It's all in the name of teaching them creativity! In all seriousness though, I do think that's an excellent point. :) It's hard to thrive in the middle of chaos, there has to be some type of order! And core subjects seem to do best when consistently tended to!

Here's a website I like to check out for menu ideas: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/ Not all of them are super cheap, but there is some good stuff there. I'm a mathy person. So outside of the great suggestions to buy lots of beans/rice/canned foods/etc... I would break it down by the numbers. $300 for the month is about $10/day. Does your husband take leftovers with him for lunch, or does he eat out? Is that included in your budget? Look at your snacks and what you do for breakfast/lunch, as dinner tends to be a great portion of the day costs. Get it down to the per item cost for snacks... yogurt, box of cereal, etc. Decide what's worth saving on (do you want to make your own granola bars, etc) and what you'd rather "splurge" on within your budget! I think it's much easier to keep to a budget if you have some room for the "luxuries" you like in it too. And knowing the cost per servings in your head is a good way to get there. My rambling 2 cents!

We're just starting Level 2, did Level 1 in about 6 weeks. I expect to take about 3 months on Level 2, and then slow it down when we hit Level 3 - I have a 01/06 little guy, and I love the AAS system but we're late to starting it so I wanted to cover all the basics but we are trying to catch up to where he should be. And we don't skip material, we do the dictates and all the suggested words, etc. But the words are just no challenge to him yet. HOWEVER - remembering the new rules and applying them critically to words he knows? That's what we're gaining by going through these first levels!

I have a semi related question! :) you mentioned using the website to print out the stuff - I've been considering a subscription to the website, but is the only way to get a "whole book" really to have a list of the table of contents, and then search for the lessons one at a time? Or is there an easier way that I'm just not seeing? thanks for any thoughts you have :)