Thank you ladies, gives me a start and some things to think about!!:001_smile:

Does anyone keep a reader's notebook for their elementary kids? I'm brainstorming for next year as I want to be better at keeping track or a record of books accomplished, etc. so my kids can see at the end of the year all they did with reading (not literally all but a good account). When I say reader's notebook I mean something that has a section for a book log, response or narration of the books read, goals, etc. My son will be 4th grade and I will have a 2nd grader, but I'm thinking more for my 4th grader- what do you include and how do you manage it- how much does the child manage it? Thanks!:)

This is my first year with SL and we (9and 6 yr. old) are using Core B- intro to world history and I am using the 4 day. I do have the 5 day schedule on back, so once in awhile I will look at it to see what we are missing- but rarely. I ordered the extra books anyways, but being our first year I didn't want to be overwhelmed with it all. I don't feel like we are missing much though- I'm oblivious really unless I look (again rare) and my kids love it and we are learning and having fun. I make sure the kids get math and reading 5 days a week- history I'm okay with 4 days or less and since we do a few outside activities during the week the 4 day is better and that way I don't get overwhelmed; but maybe you will feel a difference since it's your 3rd year?? I just don't know any difference at this point!:lol:

I'd be interested in what you think of them too btw =). I love hearing about curriculum!

We would be excited to do it too here in Alaska. Will pm you and see if you are still open for one here...:001_smile:

I have used Horizons and use McRuffy currently. I used Horizons with my son when he was is public school and needed a boost. He did fine with it for awhile then it got to be too much-a page of work on each side and what I have learned is that he does better with a mastery program than spiral. I intended on using Horizons when I home schooled but came across McRuffy. I went with McRuffy because I felt it offered more hands on activities. With Horizons it was more drill and memorization (which is great too) but I wanted my daughter to keep building concepts concretely first. She has one page to do and sometimes we have a drill a couple times a week and oral exercises too, so the variety is great and it has been a hit here! On a side note my son does MUS since he does better with that program. Good luck!:001_smile:

Don't know if this is what you are looking for but there's Calverts Discoveries in Music. May be a little spendy though.

Well as I am reading through the responses I'm trying to figure out why no one likes reading eggs, I think it's great but I am wondering if it is because my kids are slightly older- 1st and 3rd grade? I like it and my kids do too- it has a lot of variety and there is a more variety of skills practices- phonemic awareness activities, phonics, reading, spelling and vocab. Both kids were tested to find out where they start and so they didn't start near the beginning (since they're older?) and it's gone well. I only have used the free starfall, and I feel reading eggs offers more. But then again I have not seen the paid starfall portion. Good luck!:001_smile:

There's some good suggestion here but I am using Core B with a 1st and 3rd grader and it's great for their ages I think, but I agree it will be challenging to do SL for all grades, but she could also do the 4 day program with the younger ones rather than the 5 day. I will say too thought my son has a new found love for history (our first year hs) and I can only say it's because of SL! The Bible readings would be easy to do with everyone I think. But I do agree the focus should be on the older ones and if the younger ones can listen in fine and Core D could be the start but the oldest may need more. I don't use their science because from the samples it seemed a bit scattered and a little confusing, so we use Noeo Science (which gets mixed opinions around here) but we like it! Good luck to your friend!:001_smile:

This is a great question because my 6 year old daughter is and no one in our family is. Well my mom is but no one here in the house :001_smile:. When I first searched around for a program several people told me Handwriting Without Tears would be great so that's what I use. But really I am not sure it matters. I have let her just naturally grow into using her left not pushing one side or the other and she does use her right for some things- like eating. I have no words of advice though- I just instruct her how the manual suggests and do my best to make sure her paper placement is correct- opposite of what would be natural for me and whatnot. I have struggled on how to approach this but I agree with the pp just let her naturally develop it on her own- even at age 5 I was not quite sure, but then she began always writing with her left. Good luck!:001_smile:

I am using 1st grade LA and math. Math is great- my daughter is doing amazing with it and she loves it. As far as the LA, I have mixed feelings- overall it includes all the components of LA (make sure to order handwriting, it's not included in the package). I'll try to explain, but my daughter went to public school last year and so transitioning into this program was not easy- I've actually done my own reading program together for the first couple of months because of course the program assumes the student did the Kindergarten program which introduced more phonics skills than her school did. So, it moved too fast. I do see they have a 'transition' program now and it's the latter half of their Kindergarten program which would have been better for my daughter. It is also very workbookish, which is okay my daughter likes that but some of the activities early on were over her head- like suffixes, etc. So I choose only specific ones and so we only use maybe half of the workbooks. She is really enjoying the stories too. I guess you only know your child but if you look carefully at the samples in the teacher book I think it shows what the child should know before doing the program so that may help determine; if you do order I would just recommend that your child is secure in those skills first.:001_smile:

I have a 2006 version and in the front it has the schedule out line which is topics and skills...so might be in the older ones it sounds like.

ages 6 and 9; more for the 9 yr. old boy. We got a new Kindle for Christmas and classics are free to upload- so just curious what people have enjoyed with ther kiddos? Thanks! :001_smile:

I am using McRuffy and I have to say we've enjoyed it- first grade. My daughter is building a great foundation in math I feel. It is pretty open and go with some prep for the games but not a lot. The teachers manual is pretty good- but I wouldn't say it's overly scripted but just enough! :001_smile:

I just also wanted to point that you can check her on nonsense words- or pseudo words to see if she really has her phonics skills (sounds like she may not though and being 5 I feel that's okay), but maybe for future reference if you follow this link it provides a phonics skills test and 5 out of the 15 words are nonsense, so if she can't get any right then you know she needs more reinforcement, but generally the goal is for the child to read 80% of the words to have mastered it on this test. I'm sure there are others like it- DIBELS, but this one is quick and easy to use. :001_smile: http://www.hershey.k12.pa.us/56039310111408/lib/56039310111408/_files/CORE_Phonics_Survey_2008.pdf

MUS entered our house about a month ago- it never intrigued me but does my son. I can't say if it works, but my son is excited to do math and looks forward to it. He enjoys that we are focusing on less topics instead of many; so for us it's going well. He wants to watch the dvd's with me, so he does and I think it teaches the concepts pretty well. What I am learning is that some curriculum out there I rejected at first was what my son needed (we've changed at least 1/2 of what we are doing- for the better).:001_smile:

Looks pretty good to me. I have a first grader and she is doing both AAS and ETC, I am keeping her doing the ETC books because she loves them even though it can be a little repetitive. Also I am not doing any formal grammar work with her yet as well, just my personal preference since I started hs this year- I want her comfortable with reading first, but again a personal preference. I am using Core B too and my kids love it- CHOW has been fine for us, but I know a lot of people use SOTW in place, but we use it and I got the history pockets to go with it and they enjoy it. In science I see you are undecided, I am not sure what NL (?) is but we do Noeo Physics 1 and so far it's a great hit here. I know some people have not liked it for preferences, but overall the kids love the books and experiments to go with it, I change up the notebooking though with it. Good luck!!:001_smile:

I understand! In first grade my son struggled and he went to the school where I was a reading specialist! I tried all the tricks and trade and really what helped was- time. He needed to come into his own when he was ready, and honestly I think his teacher fretted more about it than I. In the beginning I had some concerns but the more I learned about boys and girls the less I stressed, he still gives me moments of stress but I am reminded he will get there in his own time. So now he's in third grade and first year homeschooling, he will read on his own once in awhile but loves being read to. So I would say just do very short lessons everyday, and know it will come to him! And yes a lot of patience with the sounding out :001_smile:!

Looks like a good selection of mixed reviews =), so 'll add mine. We (1st and 3rd grader) are using Physics I, and the kids really enjoy it. I like having a schedule and everything laid out, I make some adjustments by adding in different notebooking pages at times then what they provide but really that's it. The kit that is provided I can see where people are saying is cheap but so far we've had about 95% of them work and we are half way done with the program. So even if it is 'cheap' it has worked for us. The other thing some people mentioned is that it seems scattered- maybe I'm looking at it differently but I don't see it. The topics are grouped together for several weeks and then you stay in the same book (and don't jump around like SL for history) and do the experiments in the kit related to the subject. Of course biology could be different; but if biology is light I can imagine it's fine for a first grader- at times the physics content is a little too much for her. Overall my kids are happy and things have gone really smoothly and we have enjoyed it in this house! Good luck!:001_smile: *Sorry I see you are asking about chemistry and that is one I am going to order next year when I have a 2nd and 4th grader- so I think it should work for you now!

I would just encourage you to 'assess' what he's been taught too, if you are using all these different tests but they aren't aligning with what you've been teaching this can show a discrepancy. But generally you should be able to find something that fits for the most part. And for Kinders it is a lot of observation. I liked the idea of someone suggesting you make up your own- that way you can do a pre-test and post-test on letters, sounds, etc. on exactly the skills you are addressing and show data. Good luck! :001_smile:

With the DRA2 they have specific books to use which aren't on the market. If you have a comparison chart you can look up what level a book is and have your child read it? In level 3 and below the child just reads and shows they know beg./ending sounds, starting at level 4 they have the child retell the story, then I can't quite remember where they start having the child identify the author's purpose- maybe level 16-20? Anyways, reading a to z has a nice comparison for their books to dra and have benchmark books you can check the child with; however I don't know if they have a free trial but you do have to pay to access it. Not sure if this is what you meant, but hope you find what you are looking for! Good luck!:001_smile:

Thank you for the encouragement and advice everyone! I think he is a lot like his dad and the girls are like me, and I am so glad we are hs this year and next (I hope!). As someone who is so close to the situation it's nice to have someone on the outside looking in. When I taught it was nice to have others to talk to, and get feedback so it's nice to have this as a home schooler! Thanks and I will look into ideas and programs!

Thank you Merry, it gives me assurance I'm thinking the right direction for him, and will look into MUS. My girls have been so different from him, so I want to assure I'm providing him with what he needs!

Sorry this is long and thank you so much who actually read it all and understand what I'm trying to say! I am really confused and not sure what my next step should be. I have a nine yr old son- 3rd grade. He has been in ps and this is our first yr. hs. He has been the type of kid who is up and down and you never really know if he will get it and eventually does. I was a teacher and he was at my school so I always knew what was going on. He 'struggled' with reading and math- but personally I never worried too much because he was a boy and we don't always provide boys what they need in schools. I would help at home but I realized he was tired and just wanted to be a boy after school. So I asked and was approved to pull him out an hour early and work with him (I was pt and was done by then). He loved it- this was first grade. That's what got me thinking about hs. 2nd grade came and he had a great teacher who did science and lots of hands on stuff- he so enjoyed this- but reading and math were a hit and miss again. Eventually he got there and met the minimum. Overall I was okay if he did not meet the standard- all kids are different and he thrives in other things- building things, sports, etc. Okay all this, I have been using TT with him, and he seems to forget things previously (he also took a couple years to learn and be secure in days of the week and months of the yr. in order)- but one thing is he cannot subtract when there is borrowing and carrying involved- he still looks at the bigger # and subtracts the smaller #- I sit with him most of the time to walk through it but what I am wondering if he just need something that is mastery based rather than spiral based. I wonder (about mastery based) because he struggled with learning the beginning of fractions- so we did games, hands on and lots of reinforcement with it and he is successful with that- but the introducing then practicing it along with other several skills he 'forgets' and frustrates him as well. It's not just math either- I changed up lang. arts- WP now and he seems to be making progress- just focusing on nouns for a month and basic writing skills- with spelling I decided to go with AAS and start at level 1? It's hands on and reinforces with the 3 learning modalities- I think this will help and that you don't move on until they have mastered a step. We have not started it yet as I'm trying to get it set up. I don't know how long we will hs, but I want to make the most of it for him and just wonder if you view him as a kid who needs to be taught through mastery programs?? (I will also add today he could not remember which colors to mix to make certain colors- I know perhaps does not sound like a big deal but he has done many projects for 4 years involving that so it threw me off a little, and this is what I see regularly with skills.) I hope I make sense and there is much more I could write but hopefully this is enough. Thank you, thank you!:)

2 years ago when my older one was in public school I used Horizons for after school as the math he was getting was not great; I continued for second grade and right away it was not a good fit- too many problems, etc. and not enough hands-on activities. I am learning too each child in one household may be different and need a different curr.- so I found McRuffy and decided to go with it for my younger one as well- and I am impressed how nicely she is coming along. Also to mention for my youngest she has not needed any added practice- but again each child will be different! Good luck and enjoy- it's been a great hit here!