I am trying to come up with a reading list for my reluctant 4th grade reader. She is still not super fluent so reading is a chore for her. I would like to find some interesting and on the easy side books to assign her for this year. It would be awesome if they matched up with our history time period we are studying but it isn't essential. We are studying middles ages to renaissance. Thanks for any suggestions!

I remember reading a thread where people were commenting on things they used to help their kids memorize multiplication facts. A few people mentioned some games they played that helped their kids. I can't find that thread now but I was wondering if anyone had any game suggestions. Thanks!

My rising 6th grader is very similar. We are going to give apples and pears a try this next school year. They have a placement test so you can know with which level to start. I have heard a lot of good things about it so I am hoping it will translate into improved spelling for her.

I am looking for a good timeline to use for history this year. I want something we can put up on the wall and requires minimal effort on my part. Anyone care to share what they use?

Thanks for these suggestions. They look great!

Hi, thanks so much for your responses. We have done story of the world during elementary. So I think we will be okay.

Thanks!!

Hi - can anyone tell me if WWS 1 teaches explicitly how to take notes?

I was thinking about doing that with WWS. Can you tell me more about how you did that? I haven't even looked at WWS yet...

How exactly do you do this? Do you have a specific writing book that you get directions and instruction from?

So I have been reading the suggestions from TWTM about how to do history for the middles grades. I just want to be sure I understand. My 6th grader should be writing summaries and outlines? Does she write those based on the same reading? How many summaries should she do a week? Lastly should she do all the great men and women listed in the resource section? Thanks for your help?

Thanks Mandy! With the reading do you have your son do narrations? Or something else? Did you come up with your own list? Thaks

My daughter will be starting 6th grade in the fall. I am trying to figure out what to do with literature. What do you guys do? I am doing LLATL for LA but I also want her to read lots, maybe write narrations/reports, discuss... Do you guys have a reading list that you follow or a curriculum. Would love to hear any ideas you have. Thanks Heather

Is logic of English a grammar program? What have you liked about apples and pears? How does it compare to AAS?

She is 11. What would you say are the main differences between LLATL and MCT? I am trying to figure out what the best fit is for her and me. I don't have a ton of time to sit down with her because she has 3 younger siblings I also need to help. Does MCT also include workbooks or practice problems?

Hi! So we are getting back into homeschooling after a year of virtual school. I liked that the virtual school motivated us to do school very day but we found the amount of work overwhelming and my daughter still wasn't getting the help in things she struggles with. So this year we are going back to doing school on our own and my goal is to have a really simple plan. I already have math, science, and history figured out but I need help with language arts and literature. My daughters biggest weakness is spelling. I have done 2 levels of AAS but it hasn't seemed to sink in. She still misspells simple words. This last year in school she basically did the spelling list thing. She would learn the words for the test and then forget them. Her reading is great though. I am thinking about still using AAS but I am wondering if there is something better or something good to supplement. As far as Language Arts I am considering doing LLATL or MCT. Any insights on those? Do you think I need to supplement anything with either of those programs? Are either of these thorough enough with writing or do I need something more? My daughter loves to read and I want to encourage her to read the classics. Do you think I should do a formal literary analysis curriculum? I was looking at teaching the classics I always end up over complicating our curriculum choices and I really don't want to do that this year. My goals for her this year are just for her to improve her spelling and hopefully become a less reluctant writer. I also just don't want her to feel stressed out. Last year was too rigorous and I want to feel like we have the time to take our time on the things she needs. Hopefully this makes sense. Thanks for your time.

I know classical conversations has been talked a bout a lot, sorry. We are considering signing up for the foundations class for my 9 and 11 year old daughters. I haven't been able to look at the foundation curriculum guide so I don't know how detailed it is. So I am just wondering how do people do it. What do you do at home during the week? What other resources/curriculum do you use? Thanks for your help.

Hi We have been doing all about spelling but not super consistently. I love it and we will continue. But I am thinking my kids need more help with spelling. I have a 9 1/2 year old who is a dreadful speller and she just doesn't seem to care. can anyone recommend a good spelling program that could be a good supplement to AAS? I am particularly thinking she needs something that will really help her recall. because she learns the rules but the we she goes to write her own things it is like we never did spelling. Thanks so much heather

I haven't looked at NOEO for science. I haven't used anything but what I ahve gotten from the district. i would like to do something with experiments included - but nothing too hard for me ! :)

For science I am looking for secular

I have a second grader who is struggling with reading as well. Right now I am reading through a book called "Reading Rescue 1-2-3". I really like the ideas that are set forth in it. It gives some very concrete ideas of what you can do in your reading with your child. We did Right start math for a while but I got tired of it. I felt like it was too teacher intensive. But maybe I am just lazy! But I am glad we started with it because I really think it gave my kids a good foundation. We now do singapore math but I often find myself returning to ways of doing things we learned in right start math.

So I know a lot of you have been in this same situation. There is too much to choose from and I am feeling overwhelmed!! Let me tell you a little about us and maybe you can point me in the direction you think might fit our needs. I have 2 girls - 9 1/2 and 8. We have been doing a lot of curriculum we got from the school district and it is very workbook centric and not very inspiring. I like things to be very organized and I don't mind planning but I don't want to spend my whole life doing it either. I love the idea of reading real books. Right now we are doing singapore for math. Which I will stick with. We also do WWE and SOTW. What I am really looking for is a language arts program and a good science. I would really like someting laid out for me, something that incorporates a lot of reading and writing. Something inspiring and not too textbooky (is that a wiord??) I love the Charlotte Mason method. So any sugestions??

Hi guys, We have been using a scholastic program called Literacy Place that we get from our school ditrict here. But we are moving and I need to return it. I am looking for somehing similar. What this program is like: There is a reading source book with stories and poems and then there is a workbook that goes with it. The workbook cover vocabulary, comprehension, setting, plot, theme. Things like that. Does anyone know of a program that is similar? Thanks my kids are 2nd and 3rd grade level. Heather

HI So I am looking for some songs that help kids to remember phonics rules. Has anyone used some that they like. I am not really interested in buying a whole new curriculum but just finding some songs. Thanks H

Hi all, I have been attempting to teach my daughters (8 and 7) to read for the past 2 years and it has been a very slow and painful process. They are progressing but they are not yet reading independently and they still sound out a lot. One of my issues has been with phonics. I did not learn to read with phonics and teaching phonics has always been intimidating to me. I have used Reading Reflex, Ordinary Parent's Guide, and Stairway to reading but I haven't loved any of them. My girls seem to forget a lot of the phonics I have taught them when it comes down to reading a book. So I feel like their phonics instruction needs some attention. But I need some help finding a phonics program that makes sense to me and to them. I want something that explains the whys behind phonics more or at least gives helpful strategies to remembering all the different rules. My husband says that maybe I am looking for something that doesn't exist, maybe phonics is just confusing... (Like why does ea sometimes say "ee" and sometimes "e" and when you see a word with ea how do you know which one it is??) SO if any of you have any suggestions I am all ears. I also wonder if any one else has had the problem of fluent reading taking sooo long to happen. How do you help your child go from sounding out to really reading?? Thanks so much -- H mom to 3 girls, 8, 7 and 1