This looks great. Thanks for passing along!

I have been revisiting our schedule that got dropped soon after the craziness of fall set in. I love the new year and kicking things off organized, energized, and ready to tackle all my great ideas. I can't wait for school to start back up soon! [quote name="Momto2Ns" post="5384948" timestamp= I also start thinking about next year at this time of year. We are selecting courses and curriculum. I bought a chemistry textbook with a half price price coupon that was good Christmas Eve only. I have to think I was one of very few people thinking about next year's textbooks on Christmas Eve. :lol: Oh, I didn't even think about planning for next year. I guess I can start thinking things out! I love planning!

We will be starting RLTL in January, as well. I just joined the yahoo group. I have been trying to mull through how to implement it in my head. I know it is pretty open and go, but I have a reader and this program will serve as her spelling curriculum. I'm just not sure about scheduling. We are in the beginning of our homeschooling journey and I can't believe I am leaving WWE/FLL behind before we even started. I actually purchased WWE beginning of December and returned it two weeks later once I came across this thread. I think LLTL will be a much better fit. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who taking the leap over to fully using KathyJo's material. Hopefully you will join the group and we can follow along with y'all.

I'm debating about purchasing our first ebook curriculum. I'm not switching over everything. Just one upcoming purchase. It started with me being impatient. I can have instant access to the pdf and start planning. I got nervous that I would want a hard copy, so I talked myself out of it. Since then, others using the same curriculum have said the pdf was really nice. I just hate wasting money. I don't want to buy it and wish I would have purchased the hard copy. It isn't a workbook and there really won't be any page flipping back and forth. I see how it would be doable with the pdf. Plus, it can never get dirty and pages won't rip. Hmmmm. Has anyone else been nervous about jumping to an ebook and it worked out? Or maybe it didn't, after all?

Thank you all! I agree with so much that you all said, and I was thinking along those lines. I was trying to tell myself that I would find couple of misses along the way. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't making unreasonable excuses. My fear is that my children will be in 4th grade and I will still be hopping around. It seems that everyone took a couple of years to find their groove, which I think is understandable. There are some programs that have worked nicely for our family on the first try, so it gives me confidence!

In the grand scheme of things, we are just starting out. I'm a researcher, and I spent way too much time researching curriculum before we even got started. I had my plan set that we would follow for the next couple of years. I drooled over certain materials that I could not wait to use, and then I waited until the oldest was old enough to start. We finally got to the right age, I purchased all my new curriculum, read the teacher guides, and drooled some more. I loved everything and could not wait to start. And then things didn't work out. :mellow: As much as I loved the programs, they just didn't work for our family. Too many moveable pieces and too teacher intensive. I just didn't account for life happening while I tried to use the programs. With a 3 year old, a 1 year old, and a baby on the way, it was not easy to implement with my oldest. I was sad to see them go, but I knew I needed something else. The best curriculum is the one that gets done, right? I DO NOT want to be a curriculum jumper, though. We don't have the budget for that and I am honestly getting tired of researching. I just want to school now. So, I'm hoping that someone can tell me that this is a natural step in the beginning? Maybe some older homeschoolers had some hits and misses in the beginning, but then got into a routine? For those of you that have your tried and true programs, did you have them from the very beginning, or did you experience this a time, or two?

This is slightly off topic, but how do you teach spelling? I'm loving everything else you have offered up, so I'm sure you have wisdom on this topic, as well. My daughter is reading fluently at this point, although we are starting soon with level 1. I downloaded your Spelling Journal, and I would love to use it. Just to make sure I am following, you just approach the spelling rules and phonograms when they come up in the words you are studying for the week? Am I missing out on something (phonogram/spelling related) if I am not using Reading Lessons Through Literature? I'm assuming this program actually teaches a child to read, so since we are reading fluently it wouldn't be needed, right?

This is my oldest to a T. She was always five steps ahead of everything I tried to teach her, and soon started to think she knew everything. I had to jump ahead a few levels and get to a point that actually challenged her. I school early, though, which wasn't necessarily what I planned, but what was needed to keep her engaged. She needed to get to a point where she realized that she didn't know everything. I had to nicely point out examples of what she didn't know, to realize that there is still a whole world out there for her to learn from. While my friends were prepping for K, my daughter was in the middle of 1st grade material. It doesn't take any longer (probably less time than her friends work on K) and doesn't overwhelm her, so I know that is what she needs. I can only assume that one would think they know everything when everything around them is below their level.

I first want to thank you for all this hard work you put into these books. It seems to be a new favorite for many. I'm excited to get started with it. I have no clue how you find the time to offer this amazon resource to us all while you homeschool your own children. I don't want to put a rush on you, but any idea when you will offer print versions of 1 and 2 separated? I am hoping to start after the new year and would love to have them separate. If they won't be ready, I'm debating about buying the print version and having it separated at Office Max, or just buying the pdfs and printing all those pages myself.

My daughter is in K, although she has been reading for a while. On your test she scored at a 2.9 grade level... She missed one word in level 2 and one word in level 3. On level 4, she correctly pronounced "belief" correctly, but got the next 5 wrong. She then took the NRRF test. We got through Level 3 with no mistakes, but then had two mistakes in Level 4. So grade level 3? She seemed to do better on the NRRF.

Can someone compare this to WWE? I have WWE sitting on my shelf waiting to be used come January, but I am liking the idea of this. They sound very, very similar, only LLTL includes fuller passages???

I have actually been looking very close at MCP Phonics. After looking through the samples online, I think this would suit her well. Glad to know someone else has experience with it after moving from ETC primers. I know she is into "fun" looking stuff, and this seems to play the part. Thanks for the rec!

Thanks for all the other idea! I really appreciate it. Now to start looking through all these new titles!

double post

We have done ETC 1-4 with her older sibling, so I am well aware of this program and I KNOW it is not for this child. This child is not 6. I would probably use it at that point, I just know there is something better for her out there. I loved the setup of 100 Easy Lessons. As far as presentation of material, it went A LOT slower than ETC. The child thrives on workbooks. Some kids do. Plus, I am pregnant with #4 and need something without moveable parts, as I am sure there will be a lot of up and down and moving around while helping her with phonics.

Like I said, Explode the Code will be too much for her. Plus, it is just too much writing. If it wasn't clear in my first post, I am looking for another option.

I have a child who needs a reading program. We used 100 Easy Lessons for her older sibling, but I have noticed this child has aversions to book-based reading programs. She wants to learn to read, but says she does not like 100 Easy Lessons, Ordinary Parents Guide, Sam books, etc. She is loving her ETC books (Get Ready, Get Set, and Go) and asks for them every day. Jumping into ETC1 will be too much for her, as she needs slow work on blends. I'm gathering she likes workbooks. Any workbook reading programs you can recommend? I want something without a lot of parts, reasonable priced, and phonetically based.

I don't know your kids ages, but I would say to jump right in. Never worry about doing it all, but especially in the beginning, give yourself a lot of grace. I think you end up getting a good routine going, but you have to find your own groove. As with all things, it just takes a little bit of time. It definitely pays off in the end. I fall more and more in love the more we use TOG!

This is what I worry about. I have NEVER enjoyed reading any book a second time, or even watching a movie again. I have so many parenting books that I loved and hope to re-read, so I start and the second round bores me to tears. I often go back and forth about reading classics to my children at such a young age. Being 3 and 5, if I know they won't like re-reading books, I would rather wait until they can grasp more and truly appreciate them for all their beauty. What do you do in this case? Skip them until a later age?

I posted this in another thread, but I thought it was just too good for other people to pass by. This article is quite old, but I recently read it and it hit me hard. I had never really heard of praise talked about in this regard and how much our wording can affect our children. As the primary educator for our children, I think there is a lot we can learn from the study conducted and this article, in general. I am sure I am not the only person in this boat. I hope someone else can glean some wisdom from it, as well! The Power (and Peril) of Praising Your Kids

This is my daughter to a T. It's an old article, but I recently read this and things started to come together for me... http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ (This article is based on a very interesting study in which simple words told to children had a great impact on whether they attempted things or gave up.)

I don't know if you are Catholic, Orthodox, or just looking for available information, but there is an active TOG Catholic yahoo group made up of families who use the material. I think that is maybe why the boards aren't that active on the TOG website, since the yahoo group is? Its full of information for book substitutions, etc. http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/community/mailgroups.php

I thought that in the beginning Mergath said that TOG looks far more difficult to secularize than a program such as Sonlight. I was just trying to point out, with her daughter being 5, maybe she has only looked at Sonlight's early levels. You can't compare the Christian teaching in Sonlight Core A to what you receive with TOG. A more accurate way to compare the ease of secularization of different programs would be to compare TOG with Sonlight's high school programs.

You mention your daughter is 5 and the character training program "Laying Down the Rails." I think the difference comes in that you are comparing TOG to Kindergarten and elementary school programs you have looked at, or used. I wonder, how many high school Christian programs you have looked through? Indeed looking through Sonlight's early years, it might seem easy to secularize, but same with TOG. The bulk of the TOG teacher's guide is meant to prepare a parent for teaching the higher levels. In the early years, children are just learning the basic facts, across all curriculums. Once you get into high school, you start approaching philosophy and actually being able to defend your religion -- knowing why you believe is right. It is every Christian parent's goal that this is solidified during their child's later schooling. Not many people set their K, or early elementary student, up to defend their faith the same way. I'm sure Sonlight is the same way as TOG, if not stressing this even more in their high school program. To accurately compare curriculums, you have to compare the right things. My daughter is in K, as well, and we use TOG. I haven't even touched on any of the teacher notes, yet. They are just too much right now, and my daughter is getting enough information from the books she is reading. I mean, this is her first round of exposure to all the information, so there is no need to inundate her with information. The program was not written for kindergarteners or early elementary school. In the beginning, it wasn't even recommended for them. Marcia saw the need to wrap the whole family into the same study and the revisions bulked up the lower levels, so that families can use TOG as a solid program K-12. In knowing this, the teacher notes weren't designed to walk the early elementary parent through their child's schooling. Both Laying Down the Rails and Honey for the Child's heart are directed at younger children. I don't think you can really compare these things to TOG, which is a thorough education for the HS student. Everything is watered down and easy for young kids. Yes, you can use Laying the Rails for older students, but the thought is that character training should be accomplished earlier in life, so there isn't such a need for it when curriculum programs, philosophy, and religion all ramp up.

I definitely think it is. But, I don't think one buys the curriculum in first grade to use EVERYTHING in it from the start. One buys it, because they probably will be buying it at some point. You get your feet wet, pick what you want, and get accustomed to the curriculum. You provide TOG on level for a 1st grader, which isn't utilizing everything you get. Or, you could buy material for first grade, material for second grade, material for third grade, etc, etc, and then buy TOG for the upper levels. Then material you previously used for lower grades get unused now, or you are teaching multiple programs at one time. This all makes me head spin. I much rather buy TOG in the beginning, once and for all, and be done with it. But I am also one to make tweaks to any program I buy. I look at TOG as fitting any season we are in. We can do a little, we can do a lot, but at least I am only having to wrap my head around one program.