Another fan of BJU here! I know many do not like reading programs designed for schools, but BJU has been a huge success with my ds. It is always one of the first things he wants to do in his school work. I have my 1st grade set loaned out to a friend (I own 1st -5th grades), but from what I remember it was primarily reading skills for comprehension, not phonics. I believe most of the phonics work in their 1st grade is in a separate book. There is phonics review and working with words in 2nd grade and up. The readers include stories, historical fiction, poetry, non-fiction selections, and short plays (my son LOVES these). The worktext pages include comprehension activities (main idea, sequencing, etc.), writing, and phonics review in 2nd grade and up. The TE includes discussion questions for each page of the student book, and even labels the questions as to the type (literal, appreciative, critical, interpretive). There are vocabulary words to learn with each story and fun ideas to introduce stories as well as follow-up art activities, writing projects, game ideas, etc. Ds used A Beka K4 for his introduction to phonics when he was 4 and Horizons K phonics during K and 1st. It is a program that is extensive and moves quickly to do it in a year. It's good, too. I've used BJU reading since then. Ds is 8 and tested at a 6th grade reading level last year at the end of his 2nd grade year. He read The Magician's Nephew this year on his own and The Hobbit with dh, but read quite a bit of it out loud to dh. I definitely don't think a reading program has hurt him in anyway.

I looked through the list of concepts and skills for each year. My concern would be that there would not be enough skills covered before the PSAT and for having much early success on taking the SAT early. For example, using the quadratic formula is not covered until the 4th year. That is an Algebra 1 concept in most programs I've seen.

:lurk5:

I've not been to one, but I just found out there's one in AL in January. Birmingham is only about a 3 hour drive for us! Yeah!!!! It looks like the other on this coming year is in VA.

Can anyone direct me to sets of multiple lego bricks but are the size for older kids? Ds has several sets and games, but I'd like to get him plain bricks for Christmas. In my searching thus far, the sets like I'm finding appear to be larger bricks. Thanks for any leads!

Thanks!!!

:lurk5: Dd is working through Fallacy Detective, and I was looking for a logic course for next semester. BTW, CBD currently has Discovery of Deduction about $10 cheaper than the retail price.

I pm'd you about a free American history study I pieced together last year. I enjoyed piecing it together, and it went well. I am using Biblioplan this year, and I've enjoyed having it planned out for me, although I naturally tweak it being the overzealous planner I am! I really think both ways can be good as long as the planned program has components you really like.

:lurk5:

What about this idea on Squidoo? I'm not using it, but your post caused me to look around and think about doing something, too. Thanks for posting!

I really liked REAL Science Odyssey Life Science. I did it last year with my 2nd grade ds and invited my neighbors to come for the experiments. She had a 1st grader and 4 year old. It was easy and enough on it's own, but it had suggested books and websites if you want to investigate any topics further. It is secular, but if you want from a Christian perspective, it didn't conflict any with other POVs.

I really like the curricula from Positive Action for Christ. Here is a link to their 1st grade curriculum. It is written for schools, but I've had no problem using it at home. You can choose 3, 4, or 5 day a week lesson plans. It includes scripture memory, music and song memorization, vocabulary, character trait lessons each week, and more.

They just called me, but I've never asked how they know. I'll have to ask next time.

Ds is near the end of BJU's 3rd grade math book, and he will begin long division shortly.

...what would you use to memorize math facts and for curricula? I met with a homeschool student today who has struggled with math all along, is now 17, and probably won't be able to graduate because of math. I've signed her up for Khan Academy which seems to start from the beginning, but she really needs to memorize her math facts. So many sites I know of are for young children, and I don't want her to feel bad that they are childish. I was thinking MM might be the way to go for curricula. I want her to have written work as well as on the computer. So you have a point of reference, she is adding on her fingers and didn't know what to do with double digit multiplication or long division. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

That's exactly what I was thinking today, so I found a few online that I'm going to use tomorrow when we get together. I'm going to be helping this girl for free because the family doesn't have the money and she's a good friend of my dd. I also won't be able to meet with her several times a week or anything, so I was thinking she could do a lot with Khan at home, too.

:grouphug: I'm so sorry this is happening. I pray you will have wisdom on how to handle it. Whatever you do, I don't believe you should have to jump through hoops to deal with this. You should not have to change the method for a child to have the right attitude. Their attitude is their choice. IMHO, children should do what is required of them regardless of whether they like it or not. Work is part of life, and learning takes work. Work is not always fun and exciting. I find no excitement in cleaning toilets, doing laundry, or mopping floors, but I do them because they need doing. If I saw a change in attitude (FIRST!), I might try to accomodate some the child's interests. Doing things the way a child has the most fun should be a reward for doing a harder way with a good attitude.

I would like to know more about how Khan Academy works and how to be a coach. There is a girl at my church that I'm going to be helping with math. She has been homeschooled with a very liberal unschooling approach being given the choice on what to study, and she chose not to study very much math. She has failed Algebra 1 two times already during high school. I'm not sure if she should use the Map of Knowledge to determine what to study or just go to the Developmental math videos and do them in order. Do I sign up to be a coach first, then she would need to choose me as her coach, or do I sign her up as well? Any advice would be appreciated!

I have a math brain and a degree, but I would do it this same way.

:iagree: After seeing the LA curriculum list, I'm wondering if you try so many things out of fear that you are going to miss something. I try to look at this from the standpoint of the education I received. It was a traditional, public school education; yet, I went on to receive a college math degree. My dh had a mostly public school education with ACE (School of Tomorrow) his last two years of school. He has a master's degree in history and political science. Neither of us had an education I would call top notch or first rate, and we turned out just fine. I believe my kids are getting better than I did in most areas and better than they would down the street. Are they getting the absolute best education possible? No, because I know my own limitations. They both test in the top 5% or higher on standardized tests, enjoy reading, and seem to have fairly good critical thinking skills. Dd seems to be writing well, and dh (public school history teacher) is pleased with her understanding and writing about history thus far. Ds is 8 and read The Magician's Nephew on his own this year and just finished reading The Hobbit aloud with dh. They seem fine and our "meals" are much simpler leaving lots of time for fun and using their own imaginations. JMHO, but do you really need so many different things?

I think it would depend on your state. You should check with local college admissions officers and other homeschool moms who have graduated kids who've gone on to college.

Have you thought about asking BJU? If the file was something you were allowed to save and there's a record you were a subscriber, they might send it to you.

May I ask you have time to use all of those curricula and why you use so many different things? Do your kids really love math or do you feel they will end up in a math-oriented career? My 3rd grade ds is using BJU Math, plays math games here and there, weekly Balance Benders, and some SP CWP orally. Ds is very strong in math, understanding it very easily. I could see him in a math/science field some day.

I do filing right now, but I'm thinking of putting one book in a binder rather than file. Ds will start 4th grade grammar from A Beka soon. Some of the lessons are on more than one page making it difficult to file. I think BJU was designed for filing because several of their elementary lessons (reading, math, grammar) are the front and back of one page. I'm also thinking that as ds gets older the material will become more challenging, so he might need to refer back a few pages for information. As it is now, he only gets the worksheets for the day and they are filed back in that week's folder.