We have actually reused ours for the past 3 years. It isn't easy, but we have made it work. The first year we took great care in opening the doors exactly so that they can sort of tuck closed again when we put it away. We keep all the bags that each set is in and just put them back in at the end of the season. Some of the bags are starting to rip, so we may need to do something different this year. I have also thought about getting a reusable advent calendar, either wood or with felt pockets and putting the sets (with the doors now removed since that is where the building instructions are) randomly in that. It is a bit of a pain, but it can be done.

I agree with this. My DD still doesn't have instant recall either. She uses touch math or skip counts. But you know what, she always gets the right answer. Yes, it takes a bit longer, but she is accurate. I actually struggled with my math facts all through school as well and still don't have them all down, but was an excellent math student. I got a 5 on my AP Calculus exam and went on to earn a Math minor in college. By all means, keep working at it. But also don't let it slow you down. I'm jealous at some of these CLE lesson times. My DD takes 45-60 minutes on a CLE lesson with problems crossed off.

My DD is also one who just doesn't like history. I have also tried many approaches, and none of them are a great fit. I'm not one to complain because history was always the subject I didn't like the most when I was growing up. I think MeAndTheBoys really hit the nail on the head. So many homeschoolers and homeschool curricula tend to center around history, and it is a great idea...if it works for you. I always thought that maybe the reason I didn't like history was because I learned for a textbook. It was dry and boring. So, I tried to remedy that with my DD and we did a lot of readers and read-alouds, videos and projects. Guess what, she still doesn't dig it. This year I really pared it down. I replaced nearly all of our read-alouds with books we WANTED to read. I switched to a quick, get it done history textbook. We will sometimes add to a timeline or do a worksheet or watch a video, but not all the time. Sometimes we just read the section, talk about it for a few minutes, and then move on. I wouldn't say we enjoy it, but we now have a lot more time to get to the things that we do enjoy.

My DS also uses Dove. It is much milder than all the rest of the scented variety. If you look toward the bottom of the deodorant displays, you'll find at least one unscented variety. Here, all I could find was Arm & Hammar. But they like to keep it low down on the shelves.

I have not seen or used Write Shop E. I do have Write Shop D on my shelf and the programs are very similar between the 2. We didn't make it very far in D before giving up. It just wasn't a great fit for my DD. It does include quite a bit of games and hands on, which is why I thought it would work well for us, but the actual writing instruction took too many leaps for us here. It may work for you. The lessons were a bit longer...about 30 minutes and VERY teacher intense. This isn't something you can just hand your kids or read brief instructions and do. It is very teacher dependent. I know quite a few people are using CAP W&R to fill the gap between WWE and WWS. Either that or something like Wordsmith Apprentice or Jump In might work.

I, too, really like the curriculum. It has worked well for my son (we used it while he was homeschooling, and he uses it at his private school). I would use it for my DD, but there just isn't enough review for her. I thought the writing chapters were also pretty well done. Not a classical method, but certainly very nice for a more traditional method.

I'll echo a lot of the above. Dancing Bears and Apples & Pears are programs for struggling learners. I would not use them with a child who is not struggling. My DD has dyslexia, so we did/do use both of these programs. Dancing Bears does have some strange content and words. The words I just treated as nonsense words for sounding out. Had no idea that they actually had meaning. We started by skipping the stories because those were quite out there. In the end, my DD decided she did want to read them, and I was fine with that as well. I figured the practice was good. She just thought they were strange. No biggie. If my DD didn't have learning difficulties, I would have used PP with her and called it good. Dancing Bears has more repetition than PP, so that is why is works better for those struggling. One page of practicing a certain phonogram wasn't enough practice here. Apples & Pears is most definitely for struggling spellers as well. There is way too much repetition for those not struggling. It has been a god-send here. We are half-way through book C, doing only 1 side of a page a day. We have run into a few British spellings (centre vs center). I just explain that that is a British spelling, cross if off, and rewrite it with American spelling. It really hasn't been a big deal because A&P does require you to work with your child so those spellings are easy to catch. If I didn't have a struggling speller, I would probably use a basic workbook like Building Spelling Skills and call it good.

I think the answer is dependent on how much of a word guesser you are dealing with. When we went through Fast Track, I didn't set a specific time. We just did 1-2 pages a day. I did probably take about 10 minutes, but I didn't time it. Anything that was missed during that day's readings were covered first the following day before starting on another page. If my DD was having a really hard time with it, we would just repeat the page. For words, you do want to uncover each sound. I usually peeked under the cursor before starting to make sure I didn't miss any of those sounds. I suppose you are supposed to do the same thing for sentences, but I did it slightly different. I would uncover a word at a time. I didn't use the cursor at all for the little story sections unless we were having a problem. In my opinion, Dancing Bears really is meant to work on reading accuracy, not fluency. I works really well for word guessers and those that misread sentences. I found fluency increased by reading series books slightly below grade level. Things like Magic Tree House, Rainbow Fairies, A to Z mysteries. I know, not high quality literature, but good for building up that speed and stamina.

I think you are meaning 2 different things. Typically spiral and mastery are compared to one another. Most often you see these terms to describe math programs, though it can also be applied to other subjects. A spiral curriculum is one in which you learn a different topic each day, practice it a little, and then review past topics. For example, you might learn addition on Monday, practice it a little, and review past topics. Learn measurement on Tuesday, practice it a little, and review past topics including the addition from Monday. And so on. Mastery curriculum is usually done with chunks of topics. You would have a chapter on addition that you would focus on for a week or so. Each day the work is directly related to the what you learned that day without review of past topics. Then the next chapter might be measurement that you would focus on for a week or so. And so on. There is also a more extreme version of mastery like Math-U-See where you spend an entire year on a topic, like multiplication. On another note, the word spine is typically used for History or Science, etc. It refers to the main book you read for the subject, but you add other books or projects to that main book to round out the study of that subject.

We are 12 lessons into Hake grammar 5 for my DD and she is already struggling. She is having trouble keeping the vocabulary words (2 a day) straight and is still having trouble with simple subject and predicate. It just seems to be moving so fast that she isn't able to master anything in a sitting before something new is added. I was looking forward to trying this approach for her in grammar because it has served her so well in math (CLE), but now I'm wondering if it might not be a good fit. Is there a way to make this work or do I just chalk it up to a bad fit? Would love some tips.

:iagree: BJU sounds like what you are describing. It does explain the "whys" of math, but not to the same extent as MM. It is 1 workbook page front and back.

I guess we've always had what you would call a "school room". We've used the guest bedroom upstairs and the dining room downstairs. In general, we much prefer to school downstairs. While it was nice to have it upstairs where we have walls and a closet and can close the door on school, it does feel remote day after day. Then making multiple trips to go downstairs for snack, for a break, for lunch, to watch a video...it just got old. The room is standard bedroom size, but long hours in there does feel cramped to us. Downstairs took away those multiple trips up and down the stairs. The kitchen was right there for snacks and water, the TV just in the other room for a video, the computer up the hall, plus couches to read on. Yes, it makes the downstairs messier. I don't have the wall space for posters, nor would I want them hanging all over the place. But this is also what we do. I don't do formal parties and any people that come over are family or friends that know we homeschool. I have tried to use storage pieces to either conceal the clutter or made what we do keep out looking nice. We keep the craft supplies in a buffet table and our school books in an expedit with bins. Our pencils, etc are in mason jars in a basket so it looks cute but is accesible. I do still focus on school during school time, even while being downstairs. I only do chores during breaks or after school. Ideally, we would use the office that we have in our downstairs for a schoolroom. It's warm, has a fireplace, has walls, and is close to everything. But my DH has claimed that room for his own :)

We have had good luck with CLE math for my dyslexic daughter. Spiral programs worked better for her. When we did a more mastery style math, she would easily forget things from the past. The constant review helps things to stick long-term. I actually do like Saxon for grade 1 and 2 math as well. I know it isn't a top recommendation, but it was a good blend on hands-on, review, and written work for us. We just used the idea of TouchMath with our regular math programs, not TouchMath by itself.

:grouphug: So sorry for your loss. It's never an easy decision to make. We are thinking our almost 15 year old lab/german shepard is getting close too. She's having good days and bad days.

We are still working on faster recall, but don't know that it will ever come. For my DD we used a combo of skip counting songs and touch math. She already used touch math for addition and subtraction (we still don't have all of those memorized either). It's actually faster for her to skip count than to use the multiplication table. For example, if she is doing 6x5, she can either count by sixes while touching the touch points on the 5 or count by fives while touching the touch points on the six. For 30/5, she would count by fives while making small tallies until she got as close to 30 without going over. The number of tallies is the answer to her division. At my son's school, all the kids are allowed calculators when they reach Algebra 1. They probably figure that it's time to move on by then.

Request the 2-pack. That way you can leave one at school and carry one with you. I usually just carry it in my purse, that way I don't have to remember all the time. Also, register for the free Epi-Pen program here: https://www.epipen.com/copay-offer/ That way you don't have to pay for them. Register under the prescription name. We also carry Benadryl fast melts and supply them to the school.

I would then go ahead with Math 3, if money was the only issue. If he was doing fine with addition and subtraction including renaming (or carrying in older terminology) and is doing well with skip-counting, he's ready.

What type of questions did he struggle with? That might help with suggestions.

I agree. I don't loathe the books, but I find them very "meh". I much prefer A picture book of... or books by St. George for early elementary level. Me not liking the d'Aulaire books as well as the Little House series has definitely put me on thin ice. I'm bound to get the letter that my homeschool club membership has been revoked any day now.

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: It's a great feeling, isn't it

I agree. They should provide you with a new one.

I, too, wouldn't hold him back but would meet him where he is at. Like others have mentioned, I would evaluate why things didn't work well and think about what kind of learner he is. Switching my DD to a spiral math has been very beneficial for her retention. There are many options, with CLE or Saxon or Horizons. How are spelling and grammar approached? For a child slow at reading, these skills often lag. I think most kids don't retain grammar at this age. It takes the repetition of many years before they are able to reliably apply it. Instead of a history and science cycle, you could cover topics that he is interested in. Let him pick books he is interested in as well. My DD is also not very interested in school. I have learned that short lessons help her tremendously. Above all, don't compare. My older DS is an ideal student. He does his work, memorizes with ease, and will tackle anything you throw at him. My DD is not the same. She does have learning disabilities, but, nevertheless, I always have to remind myself that she is a different type of learner. Everything takes more repetition, time, and effort. I just have to challenge them differently from one another.

My dog (in my avatar) is a GS/lab mix but definitely acts more like a GS. She doesn't quite herd like that, but she does like to know where everybody is at all times. She will routinely make the rounds to make sure that everybody is safe and doing what they should be doing. Her favorite is when we are all in the same room together not acting too crazy. It drives her crazy when the kids are outside playing and we are still inside.

I'll try... We have used CLE from 205-410, with 500's coming up for next year. My son (in private school) has gone through Saxon from 3 up to starting Algebra in the fall. Differences in how they teach: They are very similar in that they have an incremental/spiral format. A new small tidbit is taught and added to what you already have learned. Their differences would be that Saxon is a lot more wordy than CLE. CLE has instructions that are to the point, and Saxon likes to discus the topic more. It may occasionally be a bit deeper. Also, Saxon spends at least the first 30-50 lessons reviewing material from previous years before starting on new material. CLE spends the first light unit reviewing, and moves to new things pretty quickly after that. So the material is spread out better. I may get blasted for this, but I also find that Saxon does require a bit more problem-solving skills. There are more and deeper word problems, IMO. The strengths of each program: Saxon - mathematical thinking and vocabulary (not the same type as something like Singapore, but still quite strong) CLE - strong math done in workbook form (great if your kid struggles or refuses to copy) Complaints of each program: Saxon - can get overwhelming. There are a lot of words on a page. Then there is the copying of problems onto separate paper. CLE - can be a bit weaker in word problems (again some people disagree, this is just my opinion), length of the problem set (we cross some off) Time per day: For us, both take about an hour. Saxon might be slightly longer though. CLE is usually a very short lesson, followed by a longer work period. Saxon (for us), was a longer teaching lesson, and a decently long work period. But then again, it depends on your kid. My son can usually do a practice set in Saxon in about 30 minutes. My dd usually spends at least 45-60 minutes on her work, but she is a dawdler. Higher levels of math: I know Saxon has a good track record for student wanting to get into engineering type fields. I personally prefer a more mastery approach come high school math, but I have many friends who used Saxon up through Calculus with very good results. CLE is only just starting to rewrite their upper-level math, so I wouldn't count on that yet (though it could change). I think there are a few times that it's okay to switch math curriculum, upon entering upper elementary/middle school, and entering high school. My plan is to continue CLE for my dd until we reach upper levels. I can tell you why I think Saxon is a good fit for my son while CLE is a good fit for my daughter, if that would help. My DS is very logical, accelerated, and likely looking at a career in engineering. He is able to copy his work without issues or complaints, he doesn't get weighed down in the Saxon lingo, and he can withstand the rigor of the program. He probably also would have done well with something more conceptual, but I do like spiral math in the lower grades personally. My DD is more of a dreamer, struggles in school, and is more of a care-giver. She mainly struggles with reading, writing, spelling, and language. Her math skills are stronger. She really disliked having to rewrite the problems in Saxon when we tried it. She also really struggled with how wordy it was. She likes more of a get in, get out teaching. The longer practice section has helped her become proficient at math. She doesn't like conceptual learning...looking at something too many ways confused her. In my opinion, both programs are very strong with math, you just need to think about which would be a good fit for your child.

I am severely allergic to cats. Have been for my whole life. I usually begin reacting immediately, but will be flat out miserable within 30 minutes. My reaction is mainly not being able to breath. My lungs just seem to lock up. No amount of anithistamines help either. I just plain need to leave the house. It's really too bad because my DD would love to have a cat.