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Hello, I am considering purchasing all three levels of Professor B Mathematics for my kids. Am I correct that you need either the Power Mathematics CD with corresponding workbook OR the Power Learning Book with the corresponding workbook and chartsbook? I would just choose one of the other, correct? And if you have used both did you have a preference for CD or workbook? Thanks so much :)

Thank you so much for not only answering my question but giving a review and some tips. I went ahead and ordered the textbooks and Math Minutes from Amazon.

Hello, I purchased a used set of Math in Focus Grade 1. It includes TM A & TM B also student workbooks A & B. Do I also need to hunt down the student textbooks, or will I be able to teach the program with just the teacher manuals and workbooks? Thanks so much!

Hello, I have not used either program yet, but I just went through this decision a few days ago so I thought I'd let you know what I chose and why. I was looking to switch my daughters from Saxon and wanted something more hands on so I was considering Right Start, Math U See, and then also looked into Shiller. My daughters are older so I was concerned about starting RS with them and was going to just get the math games kit and then probably place them into Shiller. Finally after tons, and tons of reading and looking at samples, and talking to people that have used RS with older children, I placed my order on Monday for a few levels of RS and the fractions kit. I went with RS vs. Shiller for these reasons - 1. Most important reason was I simply liked the looks of the samples for RS better than Shiller. The lessons made more sense to me, and I liked the layout of the teaching manuals better. Plus I have read for years how awesome the games are. 2. RS has a lot of "fans". I know there are some that RS didn't work for (mostly due to teaching time required), and there are probably more Shiller users out there than reviews, but overall RS gets a lot of positive feedback. I figure there must be a good reason for this, plus with so many using it there are tons of blogs, pinterest pages, fb page, yahoo group and members here on WTM that could help if needed. 3. I read a few negative reviews of Shillers customer service. Two people said they purchased because Shiller had a buy back guarantee but then wouldn't honor it and another said she spent a lot of money on the Shiller website, just not in the form of a kit. She called for help with something but they wouldn't help her because she did not buy a kit. Now I don't know if these people just didn't read carefully or were trying to return items they damaged or something. Also didn't check the date of reviews, they might have been really old, but I have read nothing but how great RS customer service is, so that did factor into my decision. If RS doesn't work for us, I'll probably give Shiller a try anyway, I do like that an algebra kit is coming out soon, so if you pick Shiller you can stick with it awhile. If you do decide on RS I suggest ordering from Rainbow Resource - the manipulatives set is a bit cheaper there. Hope that helps some until someone with more knowledge on actually using the curriculum can give you some input :)

Thanks so much everyone - very glad I stopped by here before ordering. I think I'm going to get the RS games and fractions kit, and then will look into the other suggested curriculums for our main math program.

I love the books for 7th grade BYL as well, I'm actually going to use it for my 10th grader next year combined with a traditional high school World Geo text. BYL is 20% off until the 15th, btw.

I posted some of this on the RightStart Yahoo Group, but thought I would get opinions here as well - always great advice here :) My daughters are in 2nd and 4th grade. We have been using Saxon math, currently in 2 for 2nd grader and 5/4 for 4th grader. We are a little over halfway through both levels. My 2nd grader went through level 1 no problems, but is now saying how much she dislikes math, and that it's boring. My 4th grader is struggling with fractions and has recently started complaining about math. She is my one kid that has never complained about anything - you give her a school assignment, a chore, tell her to go to bed, etc. she just does it. Now when we pull out the Saxon book her feet shuffle and she starts grumbling. This is not how I want them to feel about any subject. And while I personally enjoyed the scripted lessons of Saxon 1-3 (I know they aren't a favorite of everyone, but math is not my best subject :)) I'm not loving 5/4 as much with having to copy all the problems out of the book, not much fun etc. It just doesn't "gel" with our school style and how we approach other subjects. So I have been looking around to switch them. I purchased a used set of Math on the Level from a lovely Well Trained Mind member, but I don't think it will work as I hoped. I was thinking something like RightStart or Math U See with the hands on manipulatives and games (in RightStart) might help with both the boredom and the troubles with fractions. However, I am concerned about jumping into such different programs so late in the game. I think if I put my 2nd grader in RightStart B the second it shows up and continue math over the summer she would probably be OK in the long run, but I worry about starting a 5th grader in level D as suggested on the website. Has anyone ever started RightStart that late? I see most people are doing D in 3rd grade. For the record, I am not at all worried about the amount of parental participation, and we don't have any state testing where we live, but I don't want her to feel far behind her friends should it come up and there is always the thought in the back of my mind that I don't want them miles behind grade level if something were to happen that required public school. I was thinking I could maybe do Level D with the 5th grader, but also give her a simple workbook to work through on the side, or just getting her the RightStart fractions kit and Math Games Kit with a different curriculum. Any suggestions for switching to either of these programs so late in elementary, or maybe another math program? Or should we just stick with what we know? Thanks so much

We enjoyed these this year - http://www.academyofscienceforkids.com/ There is not a lot of writing involved. It comes with a journal with some questions for each lab, I just have my kids answer the questions orally and only fill in the parts of the worksheets that require a sketch or graph of some sort.

Almost the same as the 3rd-grade schedule I posted, this is what my 5th-grade dd will be doing for 2016/17 For all my kids I have year subscriptions to Kitchen Table Passport and Spangler Science Kits. I am also going to try my best to put out a surprise Adventure Box (seen at Blog, She Wrote) at least once a month. Language arts - Bravewriter lifestyle (poetry, tea party, free write, etc), Quiver of Arrows and Partnership Writing Cozy Grammar Basic & Cozy Grammar Punctuation AAS 3 Reading from a stack of books we chose together Math - Going to give Math on the Level a try and I have years 3 & 4 of Beast Academy which she just started working on. Lot's of living math books, board/card games, etc. Science/S.S. - I purchased some Thinking Tree Journals to help guide us through "delight directed learning" for these subjects. Also plan to listen to SotW 2 audio book while we are in the car. Home Art Studio - I just purchased the full set so I think we'll just start with Kindergarten since they all look fun.

For all my kids I have year subscriptions to Kitchen Table Passport and Spangler Science Kits. I am also going to try my best to put out a surprise Adventure Box (seen at Blog, She Wrote) at least once a month. 3rd grade (next year) dd will be doing: Language arts - Bravewriter lifestyle (poetry, tea party, free write, etc), Quiver of Arrows and Jot it Down AAR 3 AAS 3 She has requested to start cursive so I'll find some book for this, maybe Italic Handwriting Series Math - Going to give Math on the Level a try and she loves LOF so I'm sure we'll keep working through those Lot's of living math books, board/card games, etc. Science/S.S. - I purchased some Thinking Tree Journals to help guide us through "delight directed learning" for these subjects. Also plan to listen to SotW 2 audio book while we are in the car. Home Art Studio - I just purchased the full set so I think we'll just start with Kindergarten since they all look fun.

Hi, Thought I would reply here in case you were still interested in this curriculum. We are not a religious family, based on the free sample of A Year of Playing Skillfully I took a chance and purchased the full package although I had the same concerns about the holiday months. I just got my order in yesterday and have not had a chance to look over everything carefully yet, but the first thing I did was flip to the Christmas and Easter months. As far as I can tell at first glance, everything will be adjustable for a secular family. There is a proverb on every monthly checklist, it's easily ignored. It does become part of the theme, but it's for things like keeping things clean, asking for/giving forgiveness, etc. All things good for children to learn regardless of religion. So far I have not seen any religious content in the actual teaching of these themes. There are a few crafts in December that are religious, but I think you can easily adjust them - Advent Calendar: a project to make an advent calendar including bible quotes and a surprise for child. Easy enough to follow their directions with just a surprise and maybe a happy note from a family member instead. There is a small paragraph on some activities for manger/nativity activities and a field trip. There are a few book and music suggestions that are Christian, but easily swapped with secular choices. This is also true for Easter/April. Easter crafts - Cross craft: A project using a cross made of popsicle sticks. Could easily complete the project with popsicle squares/shapes, or the letters of your child's name. Empty Tomb craft: I think you could follow this project as directed, swapping out the crosses for miniature animals or fairies and it would still be super cute/fun. Flipping through there are there are a few words about praying, or getting to know the world God made (the rest of the paragraph are suggestions for children to enjoy nature regardless of religion). Again, I have not carefully read through the curriculum, but I did look more closely at Dec. & April and skimmed through everything. I am not seeing anything that would make this curriculum unusable for a secular family. The only thing I see so far that probably couldn't be adjusted are the nativity activities, and those are a small portion of the book. There are plenty of Christmas and Spring activities that could apply to anyone that celebrates in any capacity. When I have a chance to read further if I notice anything that might be an issue I'll come back and post it. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the reply. I'm in a bit over my head with her, she is very different from my other kids :) I certainly don't want to "do school" with a 2-year-old, but I also want to keep her entertained and don't want to hold her back. I think this might be the answer, and if all else fails, I'll just shelve it for a year or so. Thanks again for the assistance!

Does anyone know if any of the activities in this book would be doable with a just turned 2 year old? My daughter loves numbers/counting and can rote count to 20, understands and counts using one to one correspondence (usually just small groups, like under 5, but she does always ask to count the eggs during bfast and has made it to 12), knows shapes, recognizes some numbers (look mom, there's a 7) completes simple puzzles etc. However she is still very much a 2 year old in spirit :) most prek math programs I've seen are beyond her level and are mostly worksheets. I'd love to just have some games to play with her. Thanks!

Thank you, everyone! Once I settle on a math program I have next school year all planned. Woohoo! :)

Hello, I am currently using (or plan to) Saxon K-3 with my younger kids. I know some people are irritated by the heavy scripting/drill, but that is exactly why I love it. I am terrible at math, and feel much better having everything very clearly spelled out for me, and the repetition is helpful as well . I also find time to mix in fun things like Miquon workbooks, board/card games, computer games, etc. which is more in tune with my homeschooling methods for other subjects, but I feel more confident having the math scripted. My daughter will be finishing up Saxon 3 this year, and I need to choose a curriculum for 4th grade. I am currently trying to decide between moving on with Saxon 5/4 and getting the Saxon Teacher discs vs. Teaching Textbooks 4, but I was wondering if there were any other curriculum's out there for the upper grades that are similar to Saxon K-3 in the way they "hold the hand" of the teacher? Or, if you have an opinion on the Saxon 5/4 vs. TT4, I'll take that too :D Thanks for the help!

Hello, I am copying my post from another homeschool forum to see if I can get some more responses :) I am planning my sons 9th grade year, and am considering using the 24.99/mo subscription at Shmoop.com for many of his courses. I have looked over the samples they provide, but am having a hard time finding reviews. If anyone here has used them - Did your child enjoy the course(s) they took? Did you find the grading easy to do as a teacher? Did you feel the courses were worth the money? Any other input, pros, cons, esp about the math courses would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for the time!

Hello, I do not have a lot of experience homeschooling high school, and could really use some experienced advice. We have been homeschooling through our local public school districts home study program in California. When my daughter was in 8th grade we met with the high school teacher and told her that my daughters main goals were to graduate early and that she wanted to pursue a career in makeup (movie, wedding, etc.). She told us if she worked hard she would be able to graduate 6 months to 1 year earlier than scheduled. Without wasting time with too many details, our goals were not listened to at all. She didn't get to take any of the classes she requested and, not only is she not graduating early, her teacher informed us that she will need to take four full classes her senior year, despite taking a full course load every year, including over the summer. She worked very hard, even getting all A's and B's. As far as I can tell, she has more than met the credit requirements for the state of California (just not for our city), with the exception of only 1 year of a foreign language. So I was wondering if there was any way to still help her reach her goals of graduating early. I did a quick search on this forum and was considering taking the NARHS route, but I don't really know a lot about it, and it's expensive. Looking at their website it looks like she would already meet their requirements for a diploma, except for maybe the computer skills portion, which she could work to complete at her own (fast) pace. Would NARHS be good for this situation, or is there a better/cheaper alternative? She has a transcript of all her credits available from our local high school. Her immediate goals were to graduate high school asap and get a job to save money to attend a local trade school for a makeup certification. She did want to have a diploma in case she did ever want to change her career goals and go to college. Plus, just wants to say she got one :) Sorry so long, and thank you so much for the help!

For place value, I really recommend a good set of base ten blocks (preferably with flat tops, not ones that "lock" together) and an out of print book called "Number-Blox: Book A a manipulative mathematics program" by Evelyn M. Neufeld and James S. Lucas. There is also a Book B. Book A is intended to start in K (a child that doesn't know how to write numerals) but everything can be adapted to an older child. The trading games and recording are fantastic for "getting" place value. If interested here are links to both books on Abebooks (I'm sure they can be found on other used sites as well): http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=5143998982&searchurl=an%3DNeufeld%252C%2BEvelyn%26sts%3Dt http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=9565768955&searchurl=an%3DNeufeld%252C%2BEvelyn%26sts%3Dt Good Luck!!!

Hello, I am going to be pulling together my own curriculum for my two young daughters for their next year of school (kinder & 2nd grade). I am not 100% sure how I will plan everything yet, possibly a gallop around the globe or working our way from past to present time. I do know I want it to be literature based. If you have a spare minute I would really love titles of your favorite children's book (or books) and a few "tags" if you know them. For example Winnie the Pooh could have a study on friendship, Ashdown Forest, England, baking with honey, bears, rabbits, etc. :) I don't mind hunting down (or attempting to hunt down) out of print books. Thanks in advance for your time!

Thanks so much, I'll give them a call!

Hello, I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to log in to the math program if you have forgotten the password for both student and parent? I see on the Teaching Textbook website how to reset your password for your account online, but not for the actual program on the computer - in other words my son and I cannot reach his lessons. He started having some difficulties when we reached long division so we took a few months off the text to review division using base ten blocks, when we were ready to go back to TT both of us had forgotten our passwords and I can't find where I wrote them down - DOH! Thank You :)

Hello, we homeschool through our local school district and are required to complete an in-depth unit on our home state of California. Does anyone know of an already put together program we can use, or is this something I would need to piece together? Thanks!

http://www.learning.com/ahascience/ I previously used R.E.A.L. Science by Pandia Press, but they only have lower elementary. I'm trying to find a new secular science and was going to order K12, but this is much cheaper, was hoping to get some reviews :) Thank you!

Most families tend to make the same things over and over again :) I repeat my kids favorites, and toss in the occasional thing I know they will say "ewww" to, but I really want to try :D It helps my sanity, and my budget, to make a full menu with three meals and two snacks per day. It seems daunting at first but it really goes quickly once you get into the swing of things. I first make a list of 14 bfast, 14 lunch, 14 dinners, 28 snacks and then mix them up and spread them over two weeks on an excel spread sheet. Try to fit things so maybe you are making roast chicken one night w/ mashed potatoes and using the left over chicken the next night ina big salad with bread. Also helps me to prep as much as possible ahead of time. Wash, prep, and freeze fruits for quick breakfast smoothies. Chop veggies one day and wrap well in fridge for stir frys, salads, etc. If making chili, spaghetti, etc double or triple the batch and freeze the rest for future meals so you don't have to cook as much. Another thing that helps me is to always have something on a certain day, for example we always have Taco or Tostada Tuesday and Friday Night Finger Foods. I leave meals that take more prep for weekends when I have a little extra time. You can find sample menus online, and great recipes. Hope that helps plan things for the types of foods your family likes to eat!