We actually did the reverse (transitioned from MM into MUS), but I thought I would chime in anyway since we've had a foot in each program. I think you would be fine with just going forward with MM6 and filling in any gaps with either Key to books or previous individual lessons from MM5. If you tend to prefer mastery but would rather not go back to MUS, then I think MM is a great solution. I wouldn't panic about the lack of knowledge of some of the MM6 topics. I prefer the way MUS teaches the concepts, but I do appreciate the rigor and coverage of some things in MM. Since I rarely use any curriculum by itself, I'm pulling from both of them. My ds10 is about to begin Zeta. When he is finished Zeta next year, I plan to have him work through certain sections of MM6 before beginning pre-algebra. Someone on the board once mentioned that MM6 has quite a bit of pre-algebra already in it, and I have to agree since my oldest dd worked through it last year. In the end, I think you just need to find a program (or a blend of programs in my case) you and dc like and keep going with it. When we skip around math programs (I am guilty of this as well), we do need to go in and address any gaps since all of the programs have a different scope and sequence. When I moved my daughter from RS to MM years ago, I feared that RS had left her deficient since she was hitting things in MM that she was not taught in RS. It is possible that RS would have hit those topics eventually, but just later than when MM introduced them. It didn't mean that RS isn't a good program (actually, I think it is fantastic, but it was becoming too teacher intensive for me as more kids came along) - it just had a different S&S. MUS has actually just released some changes to their program in the form of additional student enhancement pages that will tackle some of the things other math programs cover at that age. The teaching of the concept will be directly on the student page (so there is no change to the DVDs) which may help to alleviate some concerns about the difference in the coverage of topics without changing the heart of their program which is mastery of a concept before moving on. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes (it may mean less supplementation with MM for my dc). Derek had a great suggestion in having your kids test drive a couple of programs and see what appeals to them. I did that with my dc, and MUS really worked for them and they've enjoyed it more than MM. Does that mean MUS is best for everyone? No, each child is going to gravitate toward an approach and level of rigor that appeals to them. What is most important in the end is finding something that helps them understand math (dare I say even enjoy it?) within the context of their own learning style. Good luck in your search!

We just switched to MUS this year since my youngest dd was just not "getting" math with our previous math program (I used MM and RS in the past). She has flourished with MUS, and I'm rather sorry now that I didn't start all of my kids in MUS. It does a great job of helping kids understand the "why" behind math in a very clear way. The scope and sequence is different than some other math programs, but I think it helps kids to master a concept before moving on. By the end of elementary, it will have covered all of the major concepts - just in a different order. They recently made some changes to the program though which will help to bring it in line with the core standards (mostly through the addition of some enhancement pages in the student book). This may help to alleviate the concerns of those who like MUS but want it to cover some concepts a bit earlier for reasons such as standardized testing. I think your ds would like the program - I know my kids really enjoy it!

I sympathize with you! I did RS for years until my second dd came along who did NOT like the discovery method of RS. I was also finding it too teacher intensive once I had to do math with three kiddos. I switched over to MM because its Asian-based way of doing math seemed somewhat similar to RS thinking (which I really, really liked). I really like MM (I also consider it more traditional as pp mentioned), but I was also longing for some of the more hands-on, visual components we enjoyed with RS which really worked for my visual learners. Enter MUS. We now do MUS with MM supplementation. We do the weekly MUS lesson (which lets my kids "see" the math better) and then add in MM here and there to give them some additional practice. Since the MUS program is only 30 weeks for us (or less if my kids test out of a lesson), I find that there is plenty of time to add in some MM. I also still throw in the RS abacus and card games for additional reinforcement. Sounds like such a hodge podge approach to doing math, but it works for us! I almost never find a curriculum that I'm totally 100% satisfied with, so I always throw in something extra!

I hear you! Almost every time I "think" I've managed to nail down a curriculum I then read some negative reviews of it which sends me back to start again! :willy_nilly:

Just phoned MUS - they will be making a free PDF available with answers to the enrichment pages. All other student pages (and the answers in our current instructor books) will remain the same. When I inquired about the additional teaching tips in the instructors manuals, she said they would be ideas for activities, games, alternative approaches to explaining a concept, etc. If anyone wants to purchase the new instructors book, you can phone and purchase one for about half of what the instructors pack costs.

We tried RSO this year, but it has proven to be a HUGE disappointment. You are left scrambling to find library books to fit the topic of the lesson, and even the experiments are just so-so. I think for very young children it is fine, but by the time you hit the mid-elementary years it just doesn't provide enough. I prefer RS4K since the reading is included and the experiments are very manageable. While I know it is only intended for 10 weeks of use, I've managed to stretch it out by doing the lesson one week and then the next week supplementing with a library book/science encyclopedia and a Janice VanCleave experiment.

:iagree:

We also tossed the dictations when they became too difficult (it was causing way too much frustration and tears). We just kept going with the narrations and then moved on to IEW Level A. We are now doing WWS and love it! I rather regret IEW now, as the methods being taught in WWS are so much better in my opinion. If I could go back and do it again, I would have finished WWE 4 narrations in 4th grade and then started through WWS in 5th grade at a slow pace.

I agree that you can tweak HO to make it work by just cutting back on what is assigned. My 7th grade DD is using it this year for Ancients, and I do agree that history days take longer than her science days. Nevertheless, I like the program and would probably cut back on work rather than tossing it. One change we made in the program is to dump the Story of Mankind book and use vol. 1 of Human Odyssey in its place. My daughter LOVES the book, and it isn't difficult to assign readings from there that take the place of the Mankind book. It is very engaging in the way it is written, so it draws her in and gets done in a reasonable amount of time. It takes her forever to read something that isn't interesting, as she starts zoning out.

I agree that you may want to look at Hake Grammar. In fact, I was just looking into it for my older kids, when I noticed on their web site that they are making their 4th grade book available to homeschoolers now (previously it was only 5th grade and above). If you go to their web site at http://www.studygrammar.com/ and click on the homeschool link it says: Fourth grade: For a limited time we are making the school edition of Grammar and Writing 4 available for homeschool use. Please contact us at info@grammar.cc for details. It may be worthwhile to e-mail them and ask for sample pages. It does look like a thorough program, and I'm strongly leaning toward putting my older kids in it next year (my current 5th grader is using GWG, and I agree that it is very predictable and not especially challenging). Good luck!

Hmmmm....so it sounds as if Daily Science may work fairly well for the younger grades, but things are a bit iffy with the older grades. I was rather hoping that this would provide some sort of spiral, review type work in science that would cover/revisit concepts taught in previous grades. It has been a couple of years since my kids had biology, and my 10 year old ds couldn't explain photosynthesis to my husband the other day. Ugh! I got the "you are covering enough science with them, aren't you?" comments from dh. It's can be challenging for them to remember all of the major concepts when you do WTM style science where you stay on biology, chemistry, earth/astronomy, or physics for an entire year (without a review of work from previous years). My kids have a tendency to forget much of what was covered in science a couple of years ago until we get back to it again in the 4 year cycle. I would LOVE to find some sort of simple review type workbook that would just revisit major concepts in science without either the kids or I investing a huge amount of time (since we have no intention of dropping our main science program). Sigh. Oh well, I think I'll at least give this a shot with my rising 3rd grader next year. If I do Filebox, maybe I can still print off Daily Science lessons for the 6th grader that I think would work well...

I'm thinking of using this next year for my 3rd and 6th graders. I have to confess that I'm not a science-type person, so I'm looking for ways to get a little more science flowing around here without much of it coming from me! I'll continue to use whatever science curriculum I purchase for next year, but I thought this may be fun for them to do in addition to it. Just two questions: 1) Do your kids seem to "get" the science concept of the day? Or does it really need to be taught more extensively in order for them to understand it? I don't want this to turn into busy work without any real benefit/knowledge gained. 2) Have any of you used this through Teacher Filebox? I've been following the recent threads Filebox threads, and I am VERY tempted to subscribe when it goes on sale at the end of the week on HSBC since we already use Evan Moor Daily Word Problems and Daily Language Review. If Daily Science for grades 3 and 6 are there as well, then this would seal the deal. I tried doing a search, but I'm not having much luck. Thanks for your feedback!

I've taken a look at Exercises in English, but I think at least one of my kids would need more teaching than the short instruction provided at the top of the page. I also think having daily or weekly review helps. I'm going to spend some time pouring over the Hake and VIE samples online. Many thanks to everyone for giving their feedback. Looking at online samples is helpful, but hearing personal experiences is even better! : )

So really the teacher's guide isn't necessary for VIE? You can just purchase the answer key for the practice book and assessments as well as the student textbook?

Oh, I see it now! I was looking inside the student book rather than the assessment book. Thanks for clearing it up!

Hmmmm...this is a little confusing. When I spoke with the MUS rep, she said the DVDs would remain the same as well as the answer keys to everything except the enhancement pages. I can't imagine they could radically change the program without changing the DVDs and student worksheets for each level. Before you completely jump ship, I would give them a call to get some details. It is possible that the rep I spoke with wasn't completely up to date on everything, but I could tell that she was answering my questions by reading off of a "cheat sheet" for folks calling with questions about the changes. If anyone else decides to call, please update us so we are all aware of what is happening. TIA!

:iagree:

Well at least it sounds as if I'll end up with a decent program no matter which way I go - that is always a good feeling! :hurray: I like having review built in (thanks for the heads up on cutting back on some of the Hake review if we go in that direction). Alte Veste Academy - does VIE also have built in review? I can see from their table of contents online that they organize their chapters around major parts of speech (i.e., nouns, verbs, pronouns). Does the student have any review from previous chapters in either the daily lesson or at the end of a chapter? My dd doesn't need much review since she is strong in language arts, but my ds coming behind her benefits from review to help him cement concepts. I would love to go with a program that can somehow work for both types of learners!

I heard about this last week, so I phoned MUS a couple of days ago to see if I could figure it out. The rep I spoke with seemed to be trying to understand all of this herself (while I was on the phone with her, she was searching for her "cheat sheet" of answers for folks like me who phone!). Based on what she told me, all of our current teacher's manuals are still usable except we would not have answers to the enhancement pages (these are like the Honors pages at the upper levels - an extra lesson that falls at the end of the week). The current student pages (and our answer keys to those) will remain the same. In addition to the answers to the enhancement pages, the teacher's manuals will also have some additional "teaching tips" which may be helpful in explaining concepts to students. It sounds as if MUS did their best to "enhance" their program to address critics complaints while still keeping the basic program "as is" so that those of us with older teacher's manuals do not necessarily need to buy new ones. The DVDS will remain the same. If you would like to have answers to the enhancement pages and/or additional teaching tips provided, then you would need to buy a new teacher's manual. There were no plans to sell just the answers to the enhancement pages. The rep said you could buy the teacher's manual alone (without the DVDs) for roughly half the cost of a new instructor's set, so I'm guessing a new manual would be around $25 - 30? One of my dc often needs things explained multiple ways, so I think I'll probably buy the updated manuals. Regarding the student books, they still have the current ones, but once they are sold out then only the new student books with enhancement pages will be available. I suppose if you wanted to keep your current manual, you could just ignore the enhancement pages or allow your dc to complete them and then figure out the solutions yourself? Either way, I'm excited to see the changes. MUS is such a great program that I think anything they add will be terrific! Hope this helps!

I started my 7th grade DD on Analytical Grammar this year. While she is doing fine with it, I don't think either one of us has been thrilled with it. In my ideal world, I would have a grammar program that is thorough and includes diagramming (just not as much as AG requires). Hake seems to fit the bill, but I'm wondering if there is anyone who has used Hake and found it lacking. Is there a decent amount of diagramming? Do you feel like your kids retain the info? Do you like it???? I would be using it for grammar only since she is happy with WWS for writing. The other alternative is Voyages in English, so I would also love to hear feedback if you have experience with it (diagramming, retention, etc.). TIA!

Never too early to start planning! ; ) Math - MUS Gamma with some MM worksheets and Evan Moor Daily Word Problems Grammar - Trying to decide whether to stick with GWG or try something else Spelling - Spelling Workout Writing - WWE Religion - Faith and Life French - Usborne French books Handwriting - Still deciding on a cursive program... History - SOTW or HO or some combination Science - Nature study in fall/spring with RS4K Physics in the winter Art - Meet the Masters and art class Music - Piano

My kids are using Sadlier Oxford this year with great success. My oldest DD tried Wordly Wise, but it wasn't a good fit for her. I bought Sadlier Oxford this year instead, and we are all very happy with it!

Here is one for cursive using famous quotations. It was just the right amount of cursive practice for my ds, and he enjoyed memorizing the quotations: http://www.amazon.com/Cursive-Writing-Practice-Reproducible-Character-Building/dp/0545094372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360731321&sr=8-1&keywords=handwriting+quotes HTH!

We've ordered from Ray at Horrible Books several times - he offers 20% off plus free shipping. Very dependable and reliable. If you want to join in his next order at the end of this month, you can e-mail him at ray@horriblebooks.com

We used Galore Park for 6th and 7th grade. I'm very happy with the series, and my daughter has no problem doing it independently. She enjoys the program!