Thank you so much for the replies!! These are great! Lori D - Love your advice! Very helpful! I am asking for a 4th and 7th grade boys. They do ok with writing, I am just having a hard time finding a program. They all seem so good, but I want one that I know will bring results. I guess that is impossible to know until I jump in and use one.

I am going bonkers researching writing curriculum!! HELP! Tell me which program worked for your child!

Thank you so much!! It is always helpful to hear good reviews before you enroll!

I am considering signing my daughter up for a class with Big River Academy. I am thinking she will do English IV. Has anyone had a child take this course? I would love some feedback!

Has anyone used any of the English or History classes from Classes from Beth? Any feedback would be great!

Has anyone looked at this? Curious on your thoughts. It looks good, but is it enough? Anyone?

I used CLE for several years and then decided to try TG&TB for grades 2, 5 and 8. We have used TG&TB for a few years now. I am starting to feel like it simply is not enough. My daughter just took a placement test for The Potter's School English and completely bombed it. I don't think that there is simply enough drill in TG&TB to really learn the concepts. I like what I see in TG&TB and it is such a "sweet" curriculum and the kids like it, but is it truly getting the job done. I wonder if the kids like it because the lessons are short, quick and don't require a lot of thinking versus Rod and Staff grammar or CLE. I feel like my kids are behind now and I am extremely frustrated. Just curious if I am the only one here...

They wanted her to take a grammar class and a writing class in the summer. They felt it would make her writing more "solid" for the class. She passed the essay portion. Shouldn't the English 2 class make her moe "solid"? I don't get it.

I signed my daughter up for English 2 with TPS. She will be a very young 9th grader in the fall. Her birthday is in July. She took the placement test and scored decent, but not great on the essay part, but only got 19 out of 30 of the grammar questions correct. They want her to take 2 summer courses or they will not approve her for English 2. Our other option is to take English 1. We absolutely cannot take 2 summer courses. Our summer is already booked. Is TPS English classes really this advanced? Sigh!! I am considering just letting her take the English 1 for 9th and continuing from there. Can I still give her a credit for English 1 even though it is really designed for 7th and 8th grade? I guess I could give her extra work? I don't know, just feeling like I have failed her. Any advice??

A friend and I are interested in starting an academic co-op in our area. We have a huge successful co-op in our area that offers "fun" classes, but we lack an academic option. Our thoughts are to offer classes that would have homework and accountability it the subjects that are either harder to teach, or would be more fun to come together, discuss and do projects with. If anyone is part of an academic co-op, could you tell me the pro's and con's of it. I would also like any advice to this endeavor as well. Are there any websites to academic co-ops you could direct me to?? Thank you!

Thanks:) We have used Rod and Staff and CLE in the past, so my 8th and 5th grader have a pretty good grasp of grammar. We are using Fix it! with IEW SWI A and B. I think it just "feels strange" that we are not using a textbook for grammar this year. My 5th is doing 2 sentences a day in book 1, and my 8th is doing 2-4 sentences a day depending on our time and what is being taught. I figure we will slow down once we get to book 3. I was able to purchase all of Fix it! on clearance at Mardel a few years ago and it has been sitting in my closet. I just looked through all of the books, and it gets meaty the further you progress.

Are you using it as a supplement or as your only grammar program?

Bringing this thread up again... any new updates?? Anyone posters above who continue to use Fix it?

We are using BJU DVD for math, science and history for 2nd and 5th grade. The science videos are never more than 15 minutes long, and most are around 10 minutes. I like them because the instructor gives a lot of information and makes it more interesting than I can. For the first time ever, science is actually getting done! They don't love every single lesson, but at least it is getting done:) I feel good knowing they are building a solid science foundation. The 5th grade science teacher, Mrs. Ingersol, is very good! Most of the time, science takes around 30-35 minutes a day. This includes the video, the worksheet (if one is assigned and if I decide he should do it), and reading the text. Sometimes I have him outline a section of his text and have him write a short summary as well. I am sure other programs out there are more interesting and fun, but I never have the time or energy to implement them. I guess for us, the best program is the program that gets done consistently, so we will continue BJU.

He is 11:)

We started the year off with BJU English, but I am not loving the writing portions. We have used IEW in the past, so we went back to IEW. I also added Fix it! I have considered just doing IEW and Fix it! only, but am scared Fix it will not be enough grammar. Should I continue BJU grammar portions as well? Would it be too much? Opinions?

The link to the student guides are contained in the Teacher's Manuals for both Fix it! and the Theme Based programs. Does that answer your question?

Thank you so much for your reply.. the highlighted portion is me... I tend to expect them to get it the first time around. I think that is the reason we put IEW away the first time. I am starting to watch all the TWSS dvd's again and I am realizing that I was the problem. It wasn't IEW and it wasn't my children, it was ME not taking the time to truly work with them. :( I have listened to several of Andrew's podcasts and when he says "you can't help too much" it really struck home with me. He is so right. They won't need you there forever, but it is ok to help as much as needed until they get it. As for grammar goals.... I want my kids to know enough grammar to produce good writing. I do not think most of the grammar in grammar books are honestly beneficial. Thank you again! This helped me so much!

I have used IEW in the past, but never really used it to its full potential. I ended up dropping it and going with a traditional LA program. I have used Christian Light LA for grades 3-7, and am now using Bob Jones for grades 2, 5 and 8. I like both of those programs, but when it is time for them to write something in history or science or for any other subject, I get blank faces. They literally don't know what to do. Also, I am not finding that their grammar exercises are transferring over into their writing. I feel like doing worksheet after worksheet for grammar is a total waste of time. Yes, they do great on the worksheets, but they truly are not "getting" it. My 7th grade daughter took WWS 1 online last year and it was like she never took it. She is having a hard time writing papers! UGH.... I have TWSS and SWI A and several themed based programs sitting on my shelf. I am considering doing a theme based program with my 2nd grader, SWI A with my 5th grader and then purchasing SWI B for my 8th grader. My question is... will doing IEW and Fix it! consistently truly be enough. I don't know why I am having a hard time moving away from my traditional methods, but they are clearly not working. If I decided to go with IEW and Fix it!, it would be for the long haul... meaning we will continue this method until graduation. Thoughts? Advice?

We bought LA level 2, 4 and 7, History 1 and several science units. I had high hopes for this curriculum. I REALLY wanted to make this curriculum work for our family because I felt like we would get more covered in less time. We found that not to be true. My kids have done CLE LA and Reading for the past 3 years so TG&TB was simply way too simple for them. They were not challenged at all. We also used Sonlight the past few years, but that was way too much reading for us which is why we decided to give TG&TB a try. My kids thought it was too simple and "kiddy" even with the student explorer pages. We never ended up using the science and chose to go with BJU Press DVD for science..... this is where it got interesting. My kids LOVED their DVD lessons, so we added on the History and they loved that. My 8th grader is now doing English, Lit, History, Science and Spanish with BJU DVD. She takes Algebra 1 in an outside class. My boys are doing BJU Math, Science and History DVD and I am parent teaching BJU English/Reading/History. I CANNOT believe we started the year with TG&TB but ended up using BJU. My kids are happy as can be and it is working wonderfully. So my final thoughts about TG&TB is that it is a good program, but just didn't fit our needs this year. If you had a child that has not had much grammar or writing, then maybe it will be good, but it just did not seem like enough to me. It appeared to be when I read over the program, but implementing it was a completely different story.

Thanks for your honestly!! I appreciate it! I am laughing about the "BRING BACK JIM WIESS" chant!! My kids love his voice;)

I am considering TG&TB for my 13yo, but am concerned it may not be enough?? Would love to hear some thoughts from those who have used it for middle/high school.

We have decided to go with BJU DLO for Science:) Thank you for all of your suggestions.

I have an upcoming 8th grader and I feel like we have completely floundered when it comes to science. It is that one subject that keeps getting pushed aside when things get too busy. We have done a little science here and there, but have honestly not stuck with anything for a full year. We tried Apologia General last year and got about half way through it. She HATED it... it was so much to read and she felt as if it was too wordy. My daughter is honestly diligent about her work and we have been very consistent in all of our other subjects. WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?? I don't want to go back to Apologia. I am not sure if I want a textbook science either. I figured I have one more year left until high school and part of me wants it to be a fun year. However, I feel like I have completely ruined her science education. Can anyone recommend a good get-er-done science program that she may actually enjoy??