Thanks for all the replies. My kids do not get a lot of unsupervised screen time as far as the internet goes and neither one enjoys reading books on their kindle. I think if I can find a set of used ones (like 2012 or newer) I might go ahead. Now the question is "What to do with all this money?" Why is it that when I don't have it I can think of many things that I absolutely must have, but now that I do have it I am paralyzed? Can't. Do. It.

It turns out I have some extra cash to spend on school this year. I am wondering about using some of it to purchase a set of encyclopedias. I was thinking mainly for history research since our library is not that great. Worth it or no? Anybody have them? Do they just collect dust? or do they actually get used?

We have used WWE levels 1-3 and FLL levels 1-4 with my eldest daughter. These were fine for her, but she had no trouble with writing. We switched over to ELTL levels 4 & 5 for her 5th & 6th grade years. So we are using it a year behind and I think it is plenty of grammar through diagramming, copywork, and dictation. I am very pleased with the foundation she has. In fact, we are going to be forgoing formal grammar next year to concentrate on expository writing. The younger daughter did/does struggle with the physical act of writing. She used WWE levels 1-2, but I felt like level 3 was too much for her. I felt the same with the FLL4 so we only did about half of it. We switched to ELTL level 3 for 4th grade. It was great. I modified copywork according to what we needed for that specific day. We have not done level 2 so I am no help there. But I know if you stay with ELTL there is no reason to add FLL. ELTL reminds you to do memory work in every lesson. There is an appendix in the back of the book that gives you a list of definitions for grammar terms. I bought both the girls spiral bound note cards and we wrote the terms and definitions on these flashcard style. This has really helped with memorizing terms if that is what you are after. As far as applying that knowledge in a sentence, I have found there is no substitute for personal instruction. I talked her through every sentence we diagrammed in the level 3 book. This year for level 4 she talked me through every sentence. I hope this helps. We are big fans of ELTL here. It is very thorough. There is no need to add anything to it even if you are using it a year behind. And like the PP, I want to add, please do not worry about memorizing these things. It will come in time. You're doing great!

This is the impression I got. I am afraid I would have to change it so much that it wouldn't be worth it, kwim? I have seriously spent more time and energy researching possible ways that I will not have to make up my own thing that I could have it done by now! LOL

I am trying to decide between using a spine like SOTW/K12HO and adding in extra historical literature with some sort of written output due each week, or following something like BF. What would you say the benefit of using a guide like this is? Chelli: I was looking at the Early American/World History guide. Can I ask why you went with the Early American History Intermediate instead? I have a rising 7th grader who is a strong reader and writer and a 6th/5th grader who is slightly delayed in these areas. So I am trying to find something that I can tailor to both their needs. Would I be reading these books aloud to them? OR are they responsible for their own reading?

No one using this for 6th or 7th grades?

I am still investigating different ideas for Early American/World History. This seems to be one that would cover both. Am I right? I am really torn between just doing our own thing TWTM way or going with something a little more structured. Anyone use BF for middle school? What are the pros and cons? I am terrible when I have too rigid a schedule. I feel pressured to complete the next thing. It seems like this might have a little breathing room in it. Is this the case? On the other hand the scheduled literature seems light. Am I missing something?

I would take a look at CLE. It is very thorough and there are placement tests for everything.

Thanks for your replies. I am just trying to gauge what level of involvement for myself. The challenge for me with middle school is stepping back enough that they can take ownership, but not stepping back so far that I leave them floundering. I think maybe I stepped back a little too far. Maybe what I need to do is keep both girls in the same history book and just make sure that I read ahead of them so that I can keep everything fresh in my mind. This way we can still discuss pertinent topics and decide which ones to explore further. Guess I am finding out the logic stage means more independent work for me as well. Sigh.

Wayfarer's was a great fit for us during a season when I just needed a break from planning. We have used all three terms of both the Ancients and Medieval years. Be aware that it can be a very heavy load as far as reading goes and very light as in required output and hands on activities. If you are a box checker beware! The author cautions you not to try to read everything she has listed and to use your own judgement. Please take that to heart. If you can use it as a smorgasbord of options and not get bogged down in the schedule it is fine. ELTL is amazing for grammar. We have used levels 3-5 and both of my girls have an awesome foundation. Plus they have enjoyed the literature selections. That being said, I needed a bit more hand holding with the writing assignments. So we didn't do many of them. If I had a larger family (I am only teaching 2), I would consider staying with it for Revolutions and Modern. Since I only have two doing school right now and I once again feel like tackling planning, we are going with more interest led studies for our upcoming year. I hope this helps even though I don't qualify for the bonus points!

Do you read your history and science spines aloud to your middle schoolers? Last year I read SOTW2 out loud to the youngest(10yo) and she completed the Medieval Creek Edge Task Card keeping a binder full of her work. The eldest(12yo) read hers (K12s HO) independently. She also read through selected historical fiction and worked through the Medieval Creek Edge Task Cards. She was more than capable, but I don't know, history just felt flat this year. There was less discussion. It was just a do the next thing thing. We had similar issues with science. So, I was thinking about just reading aloud to both of them from the same history/science spine. Am I doing them a disservice? How do you foster independence and still enjoy things together?

Anyone else?

I have been looking at these and wondering how to incorporate them. Would they be stand alone or would I need another spine? Amazon doesn't give me a very good idea about the contents. Could/should we add some historical literature as well?

My girls will be 11 and 13 for the coming school year and we have never done formal American History. Oops! We are finishing up Medieval this year with famous explorers. So as I think about next year, I know I want to focus mainly on American history while not ignoring what was going on in the rest of the world. What are your favorite resources for pulling this off in the logic stage? We have SOTW3 and Human Odyssey Vol.2. But I am not committed to either one.

How often do you replace ink cartridges? I might have quite a few things to print next year. Most of it is black and white but it would be nice to have the option of color when I want it. So I am torn between the Brother laser or this Canon model. With the last color inkjet we had, the ink kept drying up, and the printer head became damaged. Maybe I didn't use it enough??

I will be using this in the coming fall, and I think we will also go ahead with the first section. My hope is that it will build confidence. Thanks for the reply Coco_Clark! We love ELTL but I think we will set it aside for next year in favor of TC and just pick up ELTL5 and WWS1 for 7th grade year. She is a young 6th grader, so I am comfortable with a little slower progression if it helps in the long run.

We are almost past complete panic, but it is still fairly painful for both of us. So this does give me some encouragement to go ahead and place my order. Would you recommend going through section one even though she is solid on grammar? We have completed both ELTL3 and ELTL4 minus the writing assignments.

Well, alisoncooks, it seems like we might be teaching similar kids. I got on here tonight with the intention of asking that very question. I also have a rising 6th grader and while her grammar skills are quite good, writing is more of a struggle for her. I was seriously looking at TC to help with this. This year we did ELTL4 which I love for grammar but did not provide enough hand holding for me to teach writing to this reluctant writer. My dd10 has an extremely hard time getting words out and is one of those kids whose knowledge exceeds her communication skills, written or verbal. Anyone else use this curriculum successfully with a reluctant writer?

Thanks for the replies and advice. I think we will forge onward adding some review as we go. After all, it is only two more chapters. Then based on how that goes, we will decide whether to switch next year or not. I am thinking either MUS or CLE. I am a little concerned about the placement, but I assume the tests will help us work that out.

My daughter is using MM4 this year. It has been a bear to say the least. We have just two chapters left which we plan to work through during the summer. My problem is that out of the last 3 tests she has passed 0!!! So, after each test, I gently explain that the test is just a tool for me to gauge where she is and what we need to review. Then we review those things and move on. I am not convinced this process is working plus she has become convinced that she is bad at math. So.....do I bail and try something else? We are already working a year behind because of the constant review, and I am still not sure that the concepts are sticking. She is very weak in problem solving but competent in computation/math facts and procedural work. Maybe we just need a break from MM for awhile. If we do this what should we do? Do we finish out the last two chapters (fractions & decimals)?

I am trying to decide what to do next with dd11(almost 12). We had gone through 3 levels of WWE and all of FLL, by the time she started what would be her 5th grade year. Neither of us was prepared to do another year of WWE but I felt like she wasn't prepared to do WWS yet. So I went with ELTL level 4. It is an entire language arts curriculum encompassing literature, writing(through copy work, dictation, and simple outlining and narration), and grammar. We are both mostly pleased with the literature and grammar portions and are almost finished with this level. But the outlining and written narration is difficult for her to do independently. The writing assignments follow the same pattern: First she is asked to read a history or science exert and give an oral narration.--no problem with this except for she doesn't enjoy the style in which they are written. All of the exerts are taken from archaic/wordy texts. Next she is to create an outline--lots of hand holding here. She seems to have a lot of trouble picking out main ideas. Then a couple of days later she is asked to create a written narration from her outline. The resulting narration is very choppy and has no flow. We end up with 5 or 6 very short 1 or 2 sentence paragraphs (if you could call them that). It is like working from the outline has actually hindered her ability to elaborate on the topic, or she doesn't enjoy the readings enough to write more. Before we started to outline her narrations were more in depth but sometimes unorganized. I am not really sure how to help her because I never use an outline to write. I use outlining to break apart difficult text in order to study it. When I write, I free write with plenty of scribbling and scratching out until I get a general idea. Then I rewrite until I have it the way I want it. No one ever taught me this outlining method of writing. So, it may be that I am not teaching it well enough. I can see that it would be a much more efficient way to organize ones thoughts. Has anyone used both of these programs? Does WWS give more of a step by step approach to outlining and how to use that outline as a tool to write? Is that what we need? Okay now I have confused myself even more. Maybe I should have written an outline before writing this! LOL!

This is perfect! Thanks so much! Now I am off to make my list.

After reading farrar's post in another math thread, I have decided I want to do one day a week where we step away from our regular math and play some games. Would I be able to use the "Activities for the AL Abacus" for this? Or would it be better to use everyday as a segue to our regular math? Any other recommendations for FUN math? We already have LOF books and are slowly working through them.

I have been looking at Beast since she was in 3rd grade, but have not tried it. I want to, but now that I have procrastinated so long I am not sure where I would place her?? I considered doing it from the beginning with both girls, but I am sure it would be too frustrating for my youngest. They have both seen it while I was checking out the samples and, of course, loved the presentation. Would you mind sharing with me exactly how you combine MM and Beast? I am curious about if I could make this work for her now, and maybe work it in for the youngest very slowly later.(?) So many curricula, so little time/money!!!!

Thank you to all who replied. Just writing it out and then getting so many different opinions helps out a lot. So here is where I am thinking of going with this for this coming year. I definitely want to move the oldest into a more conceptual approach. I will have her start with MM but continue using CLE flashcards or Timez Attack for math fact review. Last year we went through a rotation of different times tables during our morning time/memory work. This seemed to be a nice place to sneak in extra practice for both girls. We will probably pick this back up. Targhee, what you said about your DD resonated with me. I think you are right about not holding her back because of lack of memorization skills. In all honesty I was that way. It did not become important to really know them until I had a concrete use for them. If the MM doesn't seem to be a good fit for her I may try Khan while I research some other options for her(?) I would really like stick with MM through 6th with her and then maybe start on the AoPS series starting with Jousting Armidillos. I am not opposed to using two different programs. I do want the youngest to have the opportunity to develop some conceptual math skills. With that in mind, I think I will stay with CLE adding either MM worksheets to further explain some conceptual ideas. I may need something extra for word problems. Singapore or Zaccaro Primary Math Challenge?