Yes!! Thank you!

My grandkids are very interested in Geography right now, so I’d like to start them with something, but I have no idea what. 1st/3rd grades, and I don’t want to do a “community helper” type program. They are really interested in the map, states they’ve traveled to, etc., so I’d just like something to give me some direction. Also, is US or World preferable? They’ll be doing SOTW Volume 1. I have large maps in my school room, but should I have a globe also? I just can’t remember the thinking on this. Geography was one of those things we really skimped on back in the day, but we’ve all gotten a lot more interested in it over the years, so I’d like to do something more thorough with the grandkids.

I always LOVED Veritas cards when my kids were younger. Now that I’m gonna be the primary teacher of my 2 oldest grandkids, I am rebuying the card sets. I have SOTW, and that’s what I plan to use because their mom can easily do the reading with them as part of their nighttime story time, and we can put it all together during school time. I just have to incorporate the cards. I know there used to be a list somewhere that tied them together; just wondering if that still exists.

Would you share a link? When I look this up, I see a few different things.

Are the MM pages in color? Any pictures? Doesn’t it incorporate mental math, word problems, etc.? I guess when I say boring, R&S is so much drill. It’s black and white, and the pages are just boring. Of course, math is kind of a boring subject, so I’m not bent on changing it for that reason. I think the learning method is also a bit boring, but if it works, it works. I just think my grandson (and his sister) might like it mixed up a bit more.

^ You mentioned some things that I think my grandson would do well with. 1) DIfferent approaches/methods of doing the same thing. I think sometimes if the traditional thing doesn’t click, hearing it explained differently might help. I try to do that, but because I “get it,” I think it’s harder for me to explain at his level. 2) A combo that includes a bit more mental math, but not totally different than a traditional program. I had thought after reading this thread I’d just stick with R&S, but honestly, your post makes me rethink it...

I have a huge problem with this in Christian circles (and I AM a Christian, and I even like watching the Duggars). If you have a conviction to stay pure, but are unable to control it unless you’re being chaperoned, are you really that convicted? I have a serious problem with people not having personal responsibility.

I don’t really get this either, and even though his manipulating them because of a ticket is a different scenario than them sleeping with him for a ticket, I guess I just still don’t get it. You gave me a ticket. I don’t owe you **** is more along the lines of my way of thinking.

Yeah - definitely a different scenario there.

I think there are many women struggling with this very same thing. I'm in no way victim blaming because I'll admit to not knowing the whole story, but women participating in sex acts in order to gain something isn't real classy on their part either. I'm disturbed by the number of women who willingly do these types of things.

I am following this thread for some new ideas! I have done a few of the things mentioned above. Also, over the last couple years, I've given really good kitchen knives to a couple of the adult couples. I bought some nice blade covers from Sur La Table to fit the knives, and put those in their stocking (each couple gets one). Also in the past I've put nice spices, olive oils from our local olive oil store, balsamic vinegars from the same store, fun little specialty food items they wouldn't typically buy themselves, bag clips, oven gloves, high quality stainless measuring spoons/cups, things like that. Williams Sonoma always has a bucket of inexpensive knives near the counter. They are all different colors. Some are serrated edge, some straight edge. There are a few different ones. I have bought those for myself, and really like them, so I am considering one of those for each adult couple this year, along with maybe some nice cheeses/salamis, good crackers, nuts, etc. I'm not planning to do true adult gifts for my kids this year - it's just been an expensive year for everyone - so I'm gonna do each couple a nice basket of edible treats instead.

If you were starting a 3rd grader with little to no formal grammar knowledge, would you start in R&S 3? My oldest dd's friend was asking her about it, and she asked me - just wanted to see what others thought.

Thanks! I will look that up.

Thanks for all the input. I guess I’m just not sure if it would be a good move for dgs or not. I feel like R&S is a little slow moving, but also know that it’ll catch up later. I just feel like with all the drill, he really doesn’t know facts off the top of his head like I think he should, and I don’t feel like the mental math is addressed at all. I find myself giving him suggestions when I work with him (and I will be more in the very near future), but I’d love something that had it built in and explained better than I’m likely explaining it. What would be some easy things to supplement with if I decided to stick with R&S? Things that are fun that would introduce more mental math and math strategies without being another whole math program. Any ideas/suggestions?

I was reading back over my thread about teaching 1st/3rd graders, and several people mentioned Math Mammoth. I decided to look at the site, and I REALLY like the looks of it overall, and feel like my grandkids would much prefer it to R&S. It definitely introduces things earlier, and I’m fairly sure my grandson would have to go back a bit, but overall I think they’d just enjoy something that was a little more interesting (and I think HIS mental math especially, could use a little boost). So what’s the overall consensus? If you didn’t like it, why not?

I have another question. I looked at FLL online because I just wanted to see how it compared overall to R&S, and I notice they now have the grammar to use after FLL. Is R&S still the recommended program for after FLL? If so, why? It seems they’d naturally go into the GFTWTM after FLL. I like that FLL is a workbook format, and I like the incorporation of the dictation/narration. I’m considering it more for dgs than I was, but not interested if I’m moving for a year or two then coming right back to R&S.

I'm thinking of using this with dgs, but after discussion in my other thread, I'm torn. If you're using this with a younger child, when did you switch to it? How involved are you in it? Do you like the program? Overall, how do you feel it is working for your child?

I don't think my granddaughter has done much of the PP at all. My grandson used it, so I know my dd has it. Dgd is a bit different in her learning style for sure. She's definitely more of a guesser with her reading. She wants to just jump the gun and be able to read everything without learning all the basics that dgs was just fine with. She reads a good bit, but because she doesn't know her phonics blends and stuff, she will guess at a lot of bigger words. I just want to do more phonics instruction. She could probably fly through a good bit of the PP - I'll have to sit with her one day and she where it is in the book she starts to get stumped, and just start from there. I don't mind at all doing the oral work with dgs for the math. I'm sure it'll help me teach it to him more on his level. I have no issues with instruction time, but I guess math is the one thing I've just always felt could be explained better by someone else. I don't tend to explain things well if they are simple. I am always assuming understanding I guess. It's certainly something I can, and will, do. I think one of the other reasons we considered moving to TT for 3rd grade is because I think R&S changes at that level. I haven't ordered his 3rd grade math (I need to though - he's just being doing some work in a Horizons workbook til I get his 3rd grade book), but I think it goes to a hard text vs a workbook, so we thought it would be a good time to switch if we were going to. After this thread though, I'm torn.

Well, I think sticking with R&S makes the most sense if he's just gonna go back to it anyway. It's for sure a good program, and he likes the R&S spelling as well. All my kids used it for several years each, albeit starting a bit later (4th/5th grade).

One more thing - if FLL only goes up to level 4, would you switch from R&S to do this? What would you do after? With R&S, I know he could stay where he is and just keep going, but I DO think he’d like something a little more fun to do, and I KNOW his sister will when she gets to this point.

Honestly, I’m not really sure if my daughter has used the TM as much as intended. I’ll take a look at it and see. I’d probably prefer something more suited to home schooling, but I’m not opposed to continuing with R&S if I can make it work. She does have Phonics Pathways - the thing is my dgd is SO ready to be reading, I think it sort of bores her. I’d love to do something that is a bit more fun and incorporates reading right away.

Thanks for that. We have used TT in the past with older grades, and really liked it. The main reason we have been considering it is it’s likely he’ll use it later, and we figured why not just move him into it and let him just stick with it. Honestly, dgs started out great with math, but I do feel like he is struggling a bit with grasping things like borrowing. I’m not sure I’m great at explaining things. I guess I just want to be sure he is getting a good, thorough explanation of WHY, and I feel like TT will at least be doing that for him in the lesson. Maybe I’m wrong in that assumption.

Okay thanks! I thought I figured out WWE based on other comments, but couldn’t figure out MM, although now I remember having seen it mentioned in other threads. We don’t have any AAS at all. My grandson uses R&S spelling. Interested in the piano instruction. They actually have a piano, and dd would love for them to learn to play, but lessons aren’t in the budget at the moment.

Is this gonna cover things that were expected to be memorized in previous levels, and provide the opportunity to memorize them, or will it assume knowledge of all of it?

Well, I’m super familiar with R&S, having used it with my kids, but not so much with FLL. What are the differences in how it is presented? Is it scripted? I guess I’m more wondering what FLL is like than R&S, since we are familiar with R&S. Another question - if you have a 3rd grader who has never used FLL, where would you begin?