You're welcome! I was pretty excited to come across it myself. Lapbooking/notebooking is something I think I really would have gotten into when I was a kid. I don't know if ds will be as excited but I think my dd will really get into those next year. They just look like a fun addition. :)

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Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad that you loved the other two programs that you used. I am still leaning toward MFW for CtG, because my oldest is going to be in AHL for 9th grade, therefore, they'd all be studying the same time period. I would agree that it's all about finding the best fit for each family, and no one program will fit all. For instance, I have MOH, and it just drove me batty. LOL I also found a blog where this lady uses some notebooking/lapbooking resources to go along with CtG, and I think i'm going to copy her ideas. I can't remember where I found this blog, so if it was through here, and she sees this: Hi, and thanks! :001_smile: http://tammiestime.blogspot.com/p/curriculum-choices-2011-2012.html

CLE. :) ETA: I just realized yours was the other thread I was replying to, also. I wasn't trying to be facetious by posting this here, too. I just really like CLE math.

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My sister was getting rid of an entertainment center that had doors that closed in front of the tv. It's in really good shape, and matches the woodwork in my kitchen, the only issue was that it was too deep to fit behind my table. So I had Dh cut it in half and add shelves. I used command hooks to hang rulers and pipe cleaners, hole punch, etc. on the inside of the doors. It works great, and now all of our things are behind closed doors, for when I want my kitchen to be a kitchen and not a schoolroom. :)

This was very common, to the point that some considered left-handedness to be a disability. A friends mom talks about her parents tying her left hand behind her back so she had to use her right. She's still left-handed. :lol: We've used A Reason for Handwriting and it's been fine. I have wondered about needing one particular curriculum over another for teaching cursive, though, so i'll be :bigear:

What is the procedure for dictation or journaling? The TM wasn't clear on that, and i'm curious what others do. We're in week 2.

Ok, now I need to know the differences in notebooking between HOD and MFW?? I'm curious. I've only used MFW ECC and I've never used HOD. Thanks, Donna, for the clarification of ECC vs. CtG. I will have a 3rd and 6th grader next year, and I'm thinking combining will be easier with MFW. I don't know if I could juggle two guides~ i'm still feeling so new to hs'ing, despite this being our 2nd year.

Dorinda, can I ask which years of MFW you liked the best? We are doing ECC, and I'm curious how CtG compares.

I was only able to check out Lial's Beginning Algebra from my library. I followed Jann in TX suggestion to use the "Introduction to Algebra" instead, so I ordered that used from Amazon. I can already tell that the format is better than the library one I saw. We hope to start that next week, though, so I have not test driven the text yet with an actual student. I agree, though, that if Saxon is working well, just follow it through.

Thanks for the links, Hunter! I am really enjoying digging into that website.

Dry erase boards are great for practice. I have several lap ones that are blank on one side and elementary lined for writing on the other. We sit in comfy chairs in the sunroom and I will write with dd. I know proper posture is important for writing neatly, but there is only so much writing practice the littles can take. Copy sentences out of their favorite book, draw pictures to go with it, use different colors. I also capitalize on my dd's competitive streak and let her see if she can do hers neater than mine. :)

Exploring Creation with General Science(7th grade) comes before Physical Science (8th). Prior to that they have the Young Explorers Series; zoology, botany, astronomy, etc.

So far my line-up is: MFW CtG CLE Math 600 Analytical Grammar Writing Strands (this is up in the air) Spelling of some sort(this is up in the air, too) Apologia Zoology 2 Homeschool Coop weekly for PE, music and a third rotation (speech, drama, art, etc) Swimming lessons 4H (robotics, electricity and woodworking, if he stays with those) I would like to start all of the kids on a foreign language as well. I'll be checking everything out at convention. :)

I would love to see if anyone could chime in on how the videos for AG are as far as instruction. I would hate to see you buy a whole new curriculum, when you have a couple of good ones, and just need to figure out how to make them work.

That wouldn't be a problem at all. There are instructions for that in the teacher guide. We're starting halfway through 8th grade. I figure we finish it when we finish it, and will then do the high school reinforcement after that. My ds will be doing enough literature next year and the years after to count for his graduating LA credits.

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I just bought Hake for my 5th grader and AG For my 8th grader. We are finishing our first week, and we have some catching up to do. Both of my boys are math and science geared, so grammar has always been nothing short of painful. They love to write, though. :/ Hake is simple, quick. I would say it is definitely the grammar counterpart to Saxon math...it shows. We are having no difficulty jumping in at the 5th grade level. My hope is that it will be a good lead-in to AG next year. So far, i'm finding AG easy to use as well. It is a different approach than Hake, but simple and straightforward and my ds is realizing grammar is not that bad. I didn't get the videos because I'm confident in my grammar skills enough to help him, and mainly, because I didn't want to spend more money in case I hated the program. Glad to see some feedback. I like both programs so far, they are a fit for where my boys are at. We have not reached the writing portion of Hake. I am going to see how that goes, if it is a flop (or even if it's not) I will likely do another round of Writing Strands over the summer. My kids seem to enjoy writing in the summer more, so that's part of my reason. If I could do it all over again (and am doing this with my dd in 2nd) I would use Primary Language Lessons, followed by Intermediate Language Lessons until 6th or 7th and then jump into AG. My reasons are that PLL and ILL are not drill and kill on the grammar, but rather show the kids how to use their words to make stories, poetry, punctuation, etc. Proper mechanics without taking it apart in such a way to turn them off of language. It's been gentle, fun, and adequate. I had a recent freakout about grammar, as I have a high schooler starting next year. So I researched like mad, bought those two programs and can now see that it's going to be fine. :) ETA: I read where people who really like AG did not care for JAG. I don't know why, and I didn't buy JAG, but wanted you to be aware that the opinion is out there.

ITA with CLE, too. I have not done MM. My 2nd grader likes the quick intro, flash cards, and then I let her be. Occasionally there are a few places where I need to dictate some numbers to her, but not very often.

I believe you have to call them to order it, but you can get it. Does anyone know if they are going to do sunrise beyond Algebra 1, and how soon they expect those to be out?

Our B&N has Singapore, but not Spelling Workout. I actually did find a bunch of SWB materials there, too, like the Well-Trained Mind, FLL, WWE, etc.

My ds is just finishing up with CLE 700 and I have Lial's Algebra 1 ready to start. I also have my dd doing the 2nd grade and ds2 is just starting the 500. I had such a rough start trying to figure out what to use for the kids when we pulled them out of school. CLE has been a blessing to me, easy to teach my dd, the boys pretty much do it on their own except for a question here or there. I am hoping all the high school levels will be sunrise by the time my younger 2 are ready for them.

We're in a different place, we've already skipped a bunch and are now looking at starting up again. But I wanted to say "thanks" for posting this thread, it has provided me reassurance that my kids will survive my teaching. :)

Stay with CLE through 700 and then go into algebra in 8th grade. We're in the transition phase of doing this (we did not hs from the start and it took me a while to figure out what worked). I may still get some CLE 800 for the consumer math portion of it, but use it on the side. IMHO, if you have something that works, you're happy with it and it can provide consistency throughout the schooling, I would stick with it. ITA that you could get help here with the problems that you need it with.