We do, though I hadn't started it by choice. :) I started my son at 5 in Kindergarten; he just wasn't ready for it. So wait a year, more preschool in the meantime, and then tried again. It went better, but still not well so we just did what his brain could handle at the time. It's been that way ever since. He has to work very hard to get "it". Then I realized how easy it is to teach them when their brains are ready for "it". Math and reading have been our biggest "delayed/behind" areas. He's 11. He's doing probably 2nd maybe 3rd grade math and moving along wonderfully now. I expect him to continue this way and he tells me, now, that math is his best subject. This from a boy who used to cry as soon as the math books came out because his brain was not ready for it. Reading has been the same way. He only recently (this past week) picked up a book to read to himself and, if judged by today's standards, is way below his "grade". He is now enjoying reading and I expect him to make great strides with it this year. Would I do it again? Yes, absolutely, on a case by case basis. My daughter gets things quicker so it hasn't been as much a problem but I certainly don't push either. Knowing that they CAN catch up and it makes it so much easier to teach really takes the pressure off of me. It makes me a better teacher and more relaxed. Just our experience,

We, too, are loving Sonlight. We are doing Core 3 for DS 11 and DD8. I started out doing the 5 day, but decided to switch to 4 day and our 5th day we do art/music, etc. What I did to switch, since I didn't want to leave out any good books, was to setup the 4 day schedule and then see which books were left out. Then I just add those "extra" books in the time period where they best fit. A few weeks this means some extra reading or we've also even just taken off a week and they read those books only. We school year round so that easier for us. HTH,

I'm so glad to hear this. We just started Spelling Wisdom ourselves. Although we are still continuing with All About Spelling two days a week too. Congrats!!!

We did although I didn't plan it. However, I'm a very firm believer now in "better late than early" on most subjects. My son had developmental delays so when we tried math, he really just didn't have the brain maturity needed to catch on. My daughter just seems to understand math and I always wanted to keep them on the same level. Math is soooooo much easier to teach when their brains are ready to learn it. We would have daily crying fits or sulking, etc. when trying math and now all we have are those wonderful "I get it now" moments. We really just started formal math in the past year or year and a half. Now, whenever we hit a wall, I just stop and do some review or do some games and then we come back to where we left off. My kids are definitely "behind" if compared to others but none of us care. :) They ARE learning and progressing nicely. HTH,

My children are 8 and 11. Both are a little daunted with the amount of writing in Time Traveler's, however, they both really like it too. The readings are "boring" to my 8 year old. I'm using TT with AS1 myself but I'm also using SL Core 3 too. It's easy to fit in if you don't mind either doing more in one day or if you don't mind spreading AS1 out longer than 36 weeks. HTH,

You can make your own here: http://www.worksheetworks.com/english/writing/handwriting.html Hope that helps,

I'm one of those without insurance. :( My husband and I our self-employed and we've tried to get insurance, but they won't cover me because of RLS (restless legs syndrome). Dumb reason... It's really tough especially when doctors cost most much and tests are twice as much. Hope the new prez can do something on this.

How about this one? We use it all the time. http://www.classicsforkids.com/

Well, I was doing it in block scheduling like these others, such as: Language Arts Math History Science And doing those every day (that's just an example - I have alot I like to get done each day within those subjects). However, the great ladies on this board starting talking about a loop schedule and I'm switching to it. So basically, it will look like this: LLATL History RS Math AAS Zoo 2 Read with DD Read with DS States Study Election Lapbook If we don't finish it all in one day, that's ok, I'll just pick up where I left off the day before. So if I only get to AAS one day, then the next day, I'll pick up at Zoo 2 and continue through the loop as far as I can. I'll also be setting a time limit on our day - 3 or 4 hours. What gets done, gets done in that time, then we pick up again the next day. I plan on going through our loop 4 times in a week and then on the 5th loop, we'll do music or art and projects, etc. This will take alot of pressure off me from feeling like we never get to certain subjects which always drives me crazy and leaves me feeling like we are constantly behind. It should also allow me to give more time to each child as necessary. HTH,

Well, it seemed to me, to jump from book to book and not really flow chronologically well. Not that we don't jump in books a bit from Sonlight either, but it less than with WP and it flows well chronologically. I guess Sonlight does have more books compared in number to WP. But Sonlight's books seem a bit "meatier". That one reason I wanted both curriculums. My son is 11 and my daughter is 8 and I thought the lighter books from WP would make it more enjoyable; and it has. We just read more out loud and will take a little more time to do the whole Core. Let me know if you have any further questions. I'll be happy to answer. :) Also, if I had to choose one, I would have to go with Sonlight.

I'm a "better late than early" type teacher and my son, while he does have Dyslexia and a few learning issues, is similar to what you describe. I've been through Horizons, Saxon, MathUSee, back to Horizons and now I'm using and seeing nice results with RightStart. I also supplement with the Singapore Extra Practice and Intensive Practice books. I think Rightstart does a great job of explaining place value, which my son just couldn't get even with MUS (which I thought explained it well). The abaucs has also worked great for him. He couldn't stand the blocks with MUS and couldn't visualize them. Not sure if this helps you, but I'm definitely happy with the results I'm seeing. Good luck with your situation. :)

I was torn between WP AS1 and Sonlight Core 3, so I bought both (used). Then I couldn't decide how to properly put them together to mesh well. So I ended up, at first, starting with just WP and I thought I'd add in sonlight books as I could. After two weeks, I decided it just wasn't clicking for us. I felt like it was bouncing around a lot and wasn't flowing smoothly. So I pulled out the Sonlight and started it. It's exactly what I wanted and it flows so nicely for us. So I've added in the WP books, the native american focus and some of the activities and websites. This, so far, is working great for us. I love the questions Sonlight provides to go with each reader. I quickly realized *I* needed that or I'm lost. We love the WP books though, at least so far anyway. I'm sure if you wanted to skip the activities it would still work out fine for you. Most seem to be paper crafts and I thought my kids would love them, but they don't. I've bought HandsnHearts Early American History crafts instead and can't wait to receive it and see how that goes. HTH,

Not sure if it helps, but I used poster board and cut it in half or thirds (can't remember which but whichever you prefer). This made each page long and I hole punched on one side and added binder rings. Then I added my line onto the pages so that I could ultimately take out each of the pages and line them up on the floor or driveway, etc. so it shows one long timeline. It's worked great for us and the posterboard holds up pretty well. HTH,

I supplement RS with Singapore but I use the Extensive Practice book, the extra practice and the word problems. I let RS do the initial explanations then let SM give them extra. So far its working well. Of course, I always reserve the right to change my mind. ;)

I'm using this with both my DS11 and DD8. They are pretty much at the same level. My son is a terrible speller and my daughter is a natural. She's bored with it but I see her use the rules when she's spelling. My son still struggles but its helped him alot and its also helped his reading tremendously which is a great bonus for me. I bought two student kits for Level 1 and quickly found out I didn't really need it. So for the rest I just bought 1 kit. If you do more than one child at the same time, you'd need two sets of tiles but I don't think you need a whole other set of cards, imo. HTH,

I voted for needlepoint. I started young on that myself but I don't remember doing knitting and crocheting until I was older (10ish). I started with that plastic canvas and a large needle with yarn. My mom still has things I made like coasters, etc. The holes are pretty big and the needle is pretty big too which is easy for little hands. Good luck,

My children loved Pfeiffer House Music. We are doing Meet the Masters here this year but my children are older. I'd not suggest doing anything major besides some fun art projects for that age. Maybe read a picture book and draw a picture or do something related to that book. Similar to Five in a Row type thing. Or you could try Homeschoolshare.com. We haven't done anything formal for health. Just talk about it in the nature of the day or whatever is going on. Good luck,

Your comments are making me miss FIAR :) I may have to pull it back out and look at it again. My children loved it and even though they are older, they would love to do some of it again.

I love going to the conventions, though my pocketbook and dh don't. ;) There's nothing like holding a curriculum in your hands and looking over it before buying. That said, I only really enjoy the vendor tables and not all the speakers.

I voted 6-7 for my daughter, but my son just really learned to read at about 8-9. He was much later and still struggles but is doing well. :)

Last two times on ebay, I've had disputes .... I like this board (before new rules) and also homeschoolreviews.com. Good luck.

We actually switched from MUS to RightStart. I'm not terribly far into RightStart though, so I'm not completely sure how its going just yet compared to MUS. I can tell you that the Abacus was a huge hit here and really, within 20 minutes of having the program, my son, who loves math but is not very good at it getting it, was figuring out things that he just didn't understand from MUS. He hated the blocks. My daughter thinks RightStart is fun. After two years of MUS, they were tired of plain worksheets of just problems. I like MUS and definitely don't think badly of it and I would probably go back to MUS if RightStart didn't/doesn't work. But so far, I'm really liking it. Hope that helps,

I'm so glad to hear others loved this series. I'm definitely going to buy them and look for that one for sale. I hadn't noticed it yet. We are very excited about our trip, and yes, it will be quite alot just to see everything, except that we might not do everything quite in historical order. I figure if we read books in chronological order and timeline it, then when we get to a place we've learned about, they will understand its signifigance in history or vice versa if we get to someplace before we've gone over it. I'm also a curriculum junkie (couldn't decide between Sonlight 3 and WP American Story - so bought both used). My plans are to let the actual curriculum last as long as it takes; no schedules. And so many good books to read. :) I will definitely be blogging about it on our blog and posting many pics. The biggest problem is really just the space. A 30 foot Class C motorhome looks huge to drive, but looks much smaller when you start packing it. ;) I've basically got the space under the couch for homeschooling supplies. I figure I can fit alot of books, math manipulatives, crafts, etc. under there. Thanks again for letting me know about the TT series. Off to go look for it used... or buy it new.

That's my thought also. The price is a bit much, but I do think its cool that they print it out on different type papers. I suppose I could if I really want to but I also don't want to take up much room. We are going on an American History RV trip for the rest of this year and space is at a premium. With the cd's I thought I could just print out what I need when I need it. I just needed confirmation that these were a wise investment. :)

Has anyone used these from Homeschool in the Woods? I'm considering them with our American History this year. Can you tell me if you (and your children) liked them? Were they worth it and did they add extra to your studies? I noticed also that WinterPromise offers a pack where they've printed out most of the projects already on different papers. If you've used these before, do you think that would be worth it? Thanks in advance,