Sue, thank you so MUCH! Having someone who has used both is exactly what I needed to hear. Maybe I am just having a harder time than I realized with her going on to HS.I just want to put her in my Shrinkinator. :) You are right, if it isn't broke. :) Your post was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you for taking the time to chat with me :)

Thank you for your help, Sue. I think the biggest thing I am trying to figure out is when our oldest goes into highschool. With MFW she will be in her own program. My first wish was to keep everyone on the same history cycle. I haven't found anything that totally fits that biil for us. I really like the idea of them being able to work together through highschool.

That is exactly what I was thinking. :)

We are finishing out our year with MFW. I am 90% sure we will use MFW next year but HOD is the last one I need to rule out. I was just wondering if I would be able to combine a few of our kids and how doable it would be. Our older 2 are girls and 6th and 8th grades. They are 19 months apart and in many ways on the same level. I think they would do really well working togehter. At their ages would their workload be fairly independent? Our next 2 are boys in 2nd and 4th grades. They are 16 months apart. I would think I could combine them as well. Then we have a k and 3 year old. They are 2 years apart. So if you use HOD, what do you think of this and what would you do?

Have you looked at Growing with Grammar?

We are finishing up our first year with it. We are using level 3, 5 and 7. I am not blown away but I have seen gradual progress with the kids. I try to really stay involved as they work through the lessons. I love creative writing so it's come a little easier to me than math. lol Gotta shine where you can right? I try to do a lot of brainstorming out loud with them. Like, tell me about so and so...what does he look like.....who were his parents....what was it like growing up....what do people think of him today. Trying to help them think outside of the box a bit. I think we will continue another year and see how it goes. :)

I too was torn between TOG and MFW. I really wanted the kids to be on the same history cycle. I ended up staying with MFW because I love having everything planned out for me. This year I am not making myself totally stick to their plan though. We are enjoying have the freedom to add things in here and there. For example, we love Apologia so I am adding that along as well. It is going great. We had been with MFW our first few years homeschooling. Then we went another way for awhile. This year has been our first year back. Once I let go of following the guide to a T it has been a perfect fit for us. :) I think when just starting out it is an awesome way to go. :)

I would love to make writing out our lesson plans a little easier if I can. I tried HST+ but I gave up trying to figure it out. I am looking for something that I can... -Print a master lesson plan page for me week by week for me -Be able to select assignments easily to create individual assignment sheets for the kids Is there something that can do this fairly easily?

We are using this and love it. We only got the student sheets and the bible flashcards. :)

ECC does one country per every 2-3 weeks. So we do the ECC country 1 week and add in the EE the other weeks. I went ahead and printed all of the EE materials and had them bound so they each have their own little workbooks. I really like EE because she has internet links to click on that make researching easy. She also mentions lots of interesting info from each country in her fun facts. A couple weeks ago we took a virtual tour of the ice hotel in Canada. It was so much fun and I would have never thought of that on my own. :) Not living in AZ anyway :D

We have used AAS in the past. Then I tried switching to a LA program that had spelling built in. I much prefer AAS so we are going back to it. AAR is new for us. I know it is pricey which was hard for me. I just had to finally admit I needed some help in some areas. With this many kids and programs going on I needed to find my sanity again. Sure, I could piece things together and save the money but I do not have the time. Plus we can hand it down so that helps with the costs too. :)

We are using Progeny Press.http://www.progenypress.com/ There were enough choices that she felt she got to choose something she liked. I love the instant download. :)

Yep, we are doing the ECC stuff as well. My kids are all crazy about birds right now so I thought the Flying Creatures would be fun. BSGFAA we use at night as a family study.

I just want to say this board has been a HUGE blessing to me. I have learned about amazing programs that I never knew existed. I have spent hours trying to find what would work best for our family. By George, I think I've got it. lol Most of this should get us through until September. So here it is.... :) V 7th MFW ECC with Expidition Earth Getting Started with Spanish Teaching Textbooks pre algebra All About Spelling Growing with Grammar Winning with Writing Apologia General Science Bible Study Guide for All Ages--just for fun cuz the other kids are :) 2 literature study guides of her choosing Getty Dubay handwriting Music/Art based on the country we are studying J 5th MFW ECC with Expidition Earth Getting Started with Spanish Teaching Textbooks level 6 All About Spelling Growing with Grammar Winning with Writing Apologia Flying Creatures Bible Study Guide for All Ages Getty Dubay handwriting A 3rd MFW ECC with Expidition Earth Getting Started with Spanish CLE math All About Spelling Growing with Grammar Winning with Writing Apologia Flying Creatures Bible Study Guide for All Ages Getty Dubay handwriting Music/Art based on the country we are studying G 1st All About Spelling CLE LTR CLE math Growing with Grammar Bible Study Guide for All Ages Music/Art based on the country we are studying lots of reading P 5 in May All About Reading level 1 MFW K CLE math Bible Study Guide for All Ages Music/Art based on the country we are studying Q 3 in May All About Reading pre-reader Bible Study Guide for All Ages Music/Art based on the country we are studying and if by any chance you are still reading...here is our daily plan 8:00-9:00 morning board, bible, AAR per with Q 9:00-10:00 math drill, book basket, geography and AAR with P 10:00-11:00 music/arts and crafts based on our country for bigger kids as well as crafts from AAR 11:00-12:00 lunch break and cleanup 12:00-12:30 quiet reading with older kids while I tuck in the little ones...and play a few rounds of angry birds for my sanity...lol 12:30-1:30 language arts block 1:30-2:30 history and finish any geo. from the morning daddy comes in from work and can work with the little ones while I finish with the big kids or the other way around 2:30-3:30 math block It has been a couple rough years working out all of the kinks but I am thrilled. I actually E-N-J-O-Y homeschooling my kids again....a lot :) Thanks again to everyone who has helped me figure all of this out. You ladies are just amazing!!!

We just ordered AAR pre reading and AAR 1. I can't wait to start it. We are also going to use the printables from 1+1+1=1 too when needed http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/AnimalABC.html

:grouphug: I have so been there. I know it is tough being pg and trying to manage everything. I am constantly having to tweak what works for us as things are always changing. I am just now realizing that anything I can include the little ones in on runs better. It is tough though.

Can you use AAR without the readers to go along? Can I just add my own in or is this a bigger part than I realize?

We are going through this too. I finally had to break my day into sections that I can do with the littles and those I cannot. I want to expose the little ones to as much as I can. If they pick things up here and there that is great and if not no big deal. I am also using block schedules. This way I am not tied to a minute by minute plan. We are using MFW ECC as our core So when we are all together we do... 8:00-9:00 Morning board and bible block 9:00-10:00 math drill, geography, book basket, spanish 10:00-11:00 fine arts block with our crafts and music based on the country we are studying 11:00-12:00 is our lunch break and read aloud 12:00-12:30 silent reading while I tuck the little ones in 12:30-1:30 la block (handwriting, writing, grammar) 1:30-2:30 science and whatever geo we didn't get too earlier 2:30-3:30 math block

I have been going back and forth for a few days and just need to make a choice one way or the other. Our youngest boys will be 3 and 5 in May. Our almost 5 yr old loves to learn. I started LTR with him but he quickly got burnt out. I wasn't pushing...he was asking. He begs to do school with the other kids. I love all of the cute preschool packs you can print and what not but I would rather have something all laid out for me. So I ordered him MFWK. I think this is going to be perfect for him. It will give us a great spring board as far as topics to study. So excited to start that. However, I am really drawn to AAR and would love to use both. We have had to make some curriculum changes the last few weeks so I am trying to be really careful on spending. I guess I am wondering if AAR is worth the money or should I look for something else? I was also wondering if I should order the pre reader AAR for our 3 year old? Would it be too much to try to teach both of them? I am also considering AAS for our older kids. I am going to start at level 1 and just work through. Do you think I should just use AAS for our 5yr old? I am all for spending the money if it will work for us. I just wish I was more sure.

Anyone else? I need to decide today and I am still unsure.

I know I have dropped the ball with her as far as using a formal logic curriculum. That is what I need to add in for her. Thank you so much for the second idea. That is great. I will use that for sure. She is almost 13, Maybe I am just expecting too much too soon.

Our oldest 2 want to try Teaching Textboos. That is fine. However, I want to make sure they are solid in all areas like place value, decimals, percents, fractions and so on. What is a really good supplement I can add? I have looked at MM but am looking for something with a few less problems. However, if MM is the best option we will use it. They will be using TT6 and Pre Algebra.

anyone :)

I have a middle schooler who is an amazing young lady. I think sometimes she struggles with thinking things out logically? Is there a gentle way I can help her with this? She is my oldest and I can truly see where I just assumed some things would be learned naturally. Thanks for any help:)

I am really curious about AAR too. :lurk5: