These are what worked for all of my children. I don't know if you have tried these or not. http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Pencil+Grip+%28Glitter%29/012273/1279999538-1519438

Teaching Textbooks for math is a favorite for everyone. Everyone really liked Sonlight for American history too.

All of my children have loved Handwriting without Tears better than anything else we have tried. Plus their handwriting has improved so much.

I like the idea of practicing skip counting especially before they get to multiplication. This would put them ahead of the game, so to speak. All of these suggestions have helped give me some ideas. I know I remember drilling those multiplication facts over and over in third grade. I'm thankful for a teacher that made me learn them, even if it wasn't much fun!

Copywork, flashcards, computer based drills, what has worked with your children to get their math facts into their heads? We need to work on this, and I was wondering what has worked for others.

Anyone used this?

Thank you so much for all the suggestions!! Wow. I will look at some of these books. He loves for me to read books to him and also loves Starfall. I'm sure we can make some progress this year. Thank you ladies who reminded me to be patient and make learning fun.

My son will be going into first grade next year. He is my fifth child I have homeschooled. He seems to be much slower at catching on to reading than the others have been. We tried A beka (it moved to quickly for him) and went through Hooked on Phonics K with him. He can sound out short vowel words if he really tries, but it seems like he is stuck there and not moving forward. He knows all his letter sounds, it is just blending them together to make a word is where the problem is. Now in math he is moving faster than I can keep up with. He is a really smart boy, but we have noticed he sees things differently than the other children. I am trying to decide what to use next year with him. Any suggestions?

We used Sonlight's and my son found the vocab. on the schedule very helpful, especially when studying for a test.

Try Teaching Textbooks, I have a daughter who is currently in CLP and she is begging for Teaching Textbooks next year. My three other homeschoolers really like it, and their math scores are great.

Handwriting Without Tears has worked wonders with my children. I can't explain why, but they really like it. Their handwriting has improved a lot too!

My children have always enjoyed LLATL. The boys did not care for Wordsmith Apprentice as much as I thought they would.

Well it's not that my son doesn't enjoy Teaching Textbooks, he really does like it. In fact I have three children using it (we have used it for 4th-7th grade) and they all do very well with it and have all had great testing scores in math. The reason I was thinking about switching is that my son is very mechanically minded, he loves working with his dad fixing machinery and building things. It seemed like CLP math focused more on the real life aspects of using mathmatics. While TT has great word problems, very humorous in fact...that is why the kids love it. But my son is getting older and I want him to be able to apply mathmatics to real life in work and life skills. So that is one reason why I was thinking about switching. Also that TT is quite a bit more expensive, but then again I can use it with all the younger children when they get older. They also have excellent customer service. I am not liking the fact that CLP only has updated through Pre-Algerbra. I had not noticed that before. So I'm still thinking. Thank you for all your views.

My son has used Teaching Textbooks for math for the last three years. Next year he would be in Pre-Algerbra. I have liked it so far except for the cost and the fact that a couple of disks have gotten scratched and had to be replaced (not his fault...little sisters). I have used Christian Light Publications for Language Arts in the past and was considering it for math next year. Has anyone had any experience with either? What did you like or dislike? Thank you for any help.

Flylady.com It will change your life. One baby step at a time. This website has helped me so much. It has great stuff for kids too. In my house I have 7 children, my oldest is 12 and their rooms are clean every morning by breakfast. I helped them get organized and from there on it was their responsibility to take care of their stuff. No they did not like it, but who is the parent?? Now they love their rooms. I hope this helps.