I started my dd this year in R&S Math 1. It is her K year. She is doing really good in it. But about a week ago she started complaining for the first time. :glare: We will reach half way through the book next week. I believe the program is advanced for a Ker but not impossible. That is my 2 cents worth. :)

After a horrid day in January with ds9. I have read and realized that even though I think CM might work a little better for him, I can't wrap my head around it. I'm too much of a WTMer. :lol: So I have starting making sure no lesson for him is longer than 30 minutes. Also, after debating for 2 1/2 years I finally made the switch for him to MUS. It came yesterday, so we shall see if it works for him. We are trying a week (or maybe two, we will see how this week goes) of TOG. And to spice up life a little, ds3 is potty training this week.

I have tried to do Science the way WTM says but I found that I tended to not take the time to prepare for it. Then it comes up and I'm not ready so we skip it for the day. And soon we have skipped for more lessons than we should. So for me the curriculums help me to actually do it.

I use Spelling Wisdom -- which I have modified to fit us, of course.:001_smile:

These are school "candy" for my boys, especially my ds9. They love the little stories. We don't jump around, I find it easier to keep track if we go in order. The boys are timed for 3 minutes. And I do grade them but I grade in batches, like around 20 at a time. I can also get a handle on how the boys' day is going just by how well the boys did on them. I will start my dd on them probably in about mid-first grade to early second grade. I tried starting her this year in K and it just wasn't time yet.

I use and love History Odyssey. I believe that it does give my ds11 a very rigeours Logic-aged History course. I also know that for my ds9 who will start it this fall I will have to lightened the load. When I have watched the threads on it, it seems that it gets a bit of a mixed review from the users. So that may be why it isn't talked about a lot, or I could also be in left field, too.:001_unsure:

Not yet. I started my oldest with PL in 3rd grade. We didn't make it very far. He didn't like it. So then the next year I tried buying the DVD's, with great hope. He still didn't like it. So I sold that. I want to start him on Latin Prep here in the next month or so. So hopefully 6th. :001_smile: My second ds I'm sure is going to be older - knowing his personality.

I do teacher interaction when I can but on the days when I can't (either too much is going on or I'm sick because I'm pregnant) I don't fret. My boys are a bit older then your children, my oldest is doing grade 6 & younger is doing grade 4. I'm always around for explanations in case they don't understand what their book is telling them to do. I also check their work soon after they finish and help them out as needed to understand the concept.

I have not started planning at all. I switched spelling about 3 weeks ago because it was sooo not working. So my excuse is that I need to see if spelling is going to work out before I plan anymore. :001_rolleyes: I also don't know how it is going to workout with a new little one coming in September although our school year starts in August, go figure. Hopefully I'll get really inspired at the convention here in a week and a half.

Disclaimer: I have only been doing Spelling Wisdom for about 2 weeks now. But it has been going well, so far. :) I bought the e-book so by morning (usually the afternoon before) I make sure to print each boy a sheet with their exercise (sentence/line of poetry) they are doing for that day. Their name is written at the top for easy reference. When it is their time to do spelling, the boy takes their page and a spelling notebook and practices any word that they feel they will have problems with. They also know to check what the punctuation is. When they feel they are ready, they hand me their sheet. In a dictation notebook (think another notebook) they write the date and then I give them the sentence. They write it then hand me the notebook to check it off. Either they got it right, so the next day they go to the next exercise. If they miss something (misspelled word, wrong/missing punctuation) then they get that exercise the next day. In that case we just cover up the dictation done the day before and try it again, of course after practicing the words they feel they need. My boys have been happier because it is taking us a lot less time from what we were doing before. And I'm happier because it is a lot less intensive for me. HTH

I have it but I only sometimes look at it. You still have to reference the student book to even really know what is suppose to be taught. I haven't found it particularly useful but nice at times. It does have vocabulary quizzes. It is about half the size of the student book, to give you some idea. HTH

:iagree: I've had my boys in R&S math for the last two years and their mastery is very good. I only have them doing 1/2 the problems. If they really have problems with the material then they can do the other half. It is like the English in that there are plenty of problems and it comes back to the concepts again and again. I love the oral drill in the TM, it works their mental calculations and double checks that they know what was taught in the latest lessons. Also the TM will take you step by step through teaching the concept if you need it to. HTH

Thanks for the input/ideas. I'll try to answer some of the questions. I actually only assign 1/2 the problems. If he really struggles getting them right then he will do the other 1/2 the next day. But he almost never has to actually do the unassigned problems the next day. I have tried timing him and then finishing it after everything else. He just cries and will not do any thing. If he is timed at all he shuts completely down. And it is very hard to get him working again even with subjects that he loves. Yep that sounds like my ds to a tee. It is nice to know that I'm not the only one who is having a hard time figuring out a child. Any one else want to chime in an opinion? I'm still up in the air about to change his math and/or grammar.

I have asked him. For him it is totally a time issue, it just takes too long to do the pages in the book. And he can't tell me what would be better. I asked if he would rather do worksheets and he said no. He also doesn't like me doing a lecture and he detests oral work.

Ds8 *thinks* he has a problem with both his grammar and math programs. He actually does very well but I can't convince him of that fact. He will ho and hum and go after every distraction that is happening in the house instead of actually doing his work. So it takes him forever. I do tend to lose my patience after about an hour and a half on the same two pages, even though I'm really trying not to. :toetap05: So do I change his curriculum for next year? I go back and forth and need some grand advice from the hive. :bigear: By the way his ideal curriculum would be anything that would only take 5 minutes to complete and not make him think. :glare: I think he needs to think a little longer than 5 minutes at a stretch.

I have my 5th grader doing the Ancient History Theme Based Writing right now. I didn't buy the TWSS because we ran out of homeschooling money. We have been able to get through fine although I'm sure it would be easier with TWSS. Maybe this year if I can swing it. ;) He finds the assignments interesting, and way better than "describe your room" types. In the catalog, Ancient History is listed for 3-5th graders and 6-8th graders. It is too advanced for my 3rd grader and it stretches my 5th grader a lot. So I could see it working for children easily through 8th grade. HTH

That is a good summary. I have found very little that I say, wait a minute that isn't quite what we believe in our family/faith. And then explain to the boys where I believe differently. I have actually had to do that more with the boys BJU Science then I have with R&S English and Math.

We used it our first year. At the time my oldest two were 3rd and 1st grade. We liked it a bit. There were days when I felt we were chained to the computer. We did not continue the next year because by then I was getting my own ideas about what I wanted to do and different curriculum that would work better for them. I know several homeschooling families around me that use it and love it. HTH

My ds8 HATES doing his Spelling. I've been using WRTR and he is able to almost spell in isolation but almost never in context. He also is very slow going through the list because every word (it seems) takes such practice for him. I guess I don't have any advice really but that you aren't the only one dealing this the issue. I'm in the same boat looking for the perfect spelling curriculum for my very un-natural speller.

I wonder? My ds 8 has many of these symptoms and he hates writing. This is actually one of the issues I'm trying to find solutions to right now. Where would I go to find out more? How do you know if it is dysgraphia or not? I'm very curious, something else to research now.

I use CTMH albums almost exclusively. When I made the switch from the 8-1/2x11 (ring bound) to the 12x12 I found some post bound albums off of ebay. I love the covers but found that the posts were really cheap, some of the threads were not made right and cross-threaded when I tried to add extenders. I have since converted all my posts to CTMH replacement posts. I have a pioneer album that I won but haven't used because of the size, it will not let me use the protectors I like with them hanging over the edge. I love to use the protectors with the extra area next to the holes that allows the pages to lay flat if I have the album at around 3 inches. As for going digital, No way! I love the feel of the papers, emblies, and everything. I'm a very tactile person and need to "feel" it. I also LOVE the look bumpy pages, just not too bumpy. ;) There's my 2 cents worth.

This is my boy's 5th grade schedule for this year: Math: Rod & Staff 6 Spelling: Writing Road to Reading Grammar: Rod & Staff 5 Writing: IEW Ancient History History: History Odyssey, Ancients level 2 Science: BJU Science 5 Art: Artistic Pursuits (Harmony Fine Arts) Music: Story of the Orchestra (Harmony Fine Arts) Logic: Mindbender CD Latin (will be starting in about two months): Latin Prep-most likely, dh still would rather start him on Spanish, hence we haven't started anything yet. We also have a typing CD that he does twice a week. HTH

:iagree: This is what we do except we don't do the composition assignments, I wanted too but it was too much for ds10 at the beginning of the year. I think he could handle it now but we haven't been doing it and it would be a fight (that isn't that important) to start now.

I would go with R&S 5 and not 6. That is the general recommendation, if you read around. It will teach the diagramming that you had a question on. And even if it is a little easy for him, it is always good to err on the easy side than the hard side. My ds10 is in R&S 5 this year and doing IEW Ancient History writing. They go together very well. There is a lot of writing in grammar lessons, which I make ds10 only do half of the exercises. Then there are writing lessons that cover things like outlining, paragraphs, letters, and such. We just skip the "writing lessons" of R&S, they are marked clearly as writing lessons. Because of that we only have to do grammar 3 times a week to finish in one school year. He gets a new IEW lesson once a week. It is plenty for him writing wise. Just had another thought, if it bothers you that be a "year behind" do R&S 5 every day without doing the writing lessons then you would be somewhere in 6 by the end of the year. And could probably catch up without making it feel really like you were trying to catch up. I don't plan on changing next year at all. He is writing easier and making a lot of progress this year. HTH

I don't think you are missing anything. It is very similar to what my boys is doing this year but with different texts. :) I hope it goes well for you.