http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/SID-A If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, it has a "decision tree" to help you with progression. However, I want to encourage you to use their theme-based program for at least a year after you are done with SWI. We did SWI-A slowly over 3rd and 4th grade. This year we are using their US history-based writing lessons, and I am very pleased with the results so far. It helps reenforce what ds learned in SWI and refine ds's writing skills a great deal. HTH.

Have you been getting enough sleep? I was like that about 6 years ago, constantly getting sick without apparent reasons. Looking back, it was very clear that it came from lack of sleep(ds was a very poor sleeper, and I got so sleep deprived that I could fall asleep instantly if I just sat down to relax. My health improve gradually as he grew older and I got more sleep. Now I am rarely sick. I take a multivitamin, http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Synergy-Once-Daily-Multi-Vitamin-Version-3-60-Capsules a probiotic, http://www.vitacost.com/Natures-Way-Primadophilus-Bifidus-90-Vegetable-Capsules and bee propolis http://www.vitacost.com/YS-Organic-Bee-Farms-Propolis I believe the probiotic and bee propolis make a big difference.

Have you seen this?http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2009/12/love-this-camera/ I was looking for a new digital camera, then I saw her blog above. It is exactly what I was looking for.

I am giving you a bump here. Not many responses I guess because the majority of users are using their elementary material. I know Julie in MN is using their secondary material, if she does not respond, maybe you can PM her. But calling RFWP is probably best.

I had the exact opposite effect from it;) My facial skin condition has gone kind of wacky since I turn 40.

Praying for your family.

Starting from 5A, the HIGs don't have mental math pages.

We used FLL while ds was in first grade. Although he could memorize all the definitions of the parts of speech, he would go blank if he was given a sentence to label. I put it away half way through, thinking he wasn't ready for formal grammar. I took it out again when he was in 3rd grade. He improved some, but dreaded it everytime I took out the book. That's when I started looking for other grammar program. I found some posts by MelissaB about MCT intriguing. I looked into it, bought it, and never looked back. MCT grammar is set up in a way that makes sense. Ds clicked with it immediately. Although the grammar books "look" simple, the content is solid and retention of it is great. Although I don't know about it helping a right-brained child, it will sure tickle your ds's bones. The images painted by MCT's clever use of words will leave a deep impression, and hopefully, his enthusiasm for English language will rub off on your ds.

If your first grader has already done some Greek/Latin roots work, then Building Language is probably just review. It is my least favorite MCT book. There is a huge jump in content from Building Language to Caesar's English I. I think it will be challenging for your 4th grader (a good challenge), but probably too hard for a 1st grader. My young 5th grader who is good with language is almost done with caesar's English I, it's been a very solid yet fun program for him.

Wait, are you going to use all books or just the grammar book? If you are only using the grammar book, starting them both on Town and go slower with your 1st grader will do.

Based on your description of your dc's prior grammar exposure and their grades, I'd recommend Island for your 1st grader, Town for your 4th grader. If you are going to buy both levels, you might want to quickly run through Island with your 4th grader as well. Those books although easier, are fun and educational, and they don't take that long to cover. But don't take my words, definitely call them.

We are using their teaching guides for 2nd edition by Oxford University Press. I find them extremely helpful. Each volume is divided into many parts (usually 4-5 chapters each), each part starts with The Big Idea which is a summary. After that comes the lists of "People to Meet", "Places to Visit", and "Terms to Define". Then it gives you some ideas for teaching and asking questions for discussion. At the end of each part are some issues to debate, project/activity suggestions for this particular part, and how to bridge this part with previous parts and parts to come. At the end of the whole book are some study guide for students to review each part by themselves. I find the discussion questions provided in these guides are in-depth ones that require students to really think. Often they ask students to think about why a certain historical event is so important to us today, or how two or three events set off a chain reactions, or why someone's idea took off at a certain time. They are very easy to use and always provide us with good material to talk about.

The teacher manual is all you need. Unlike the Island level, there is no notes for teachers on students pages, all the guidance for teachers and answer keys are in the back of the book. The answers to each chapter test is right next to the test pages though. You can either copy the test or just put a blank paper over the answers. It's very easy to use.

Same here except I did not find Singapore math that impressive while we were using it. I thought it was a solid program and the best I could find, but that was it. I am only impressed by Singapore now after seeing how well it prepared ds for a rigorous pre-algebra program. With MCT, I was impressed right away. We used it last year, are using it this year, and next year's material was already ordered. It's a keeper in this house.

MCT is teacher-intensive because the program involves lots of teacher-student interaction. But the actual teaching time is not that much. I'd say at Island level 30-45 minutes a week is plenty, and for Town level 45-60 minutes. Remember, you are not going through all 4 books simultaneously, so the reading and discussion won't take that long. After you go through the material with your student, you can assign independent work like reviews (I have ds re-read what we cover once a week), tests, and practice book pages.

I am with matroyshka, I don't like changes, but we like MCT here and plan to stick with it like we did with Singapore primary math. We are at the end of Caesar's English I (only 3 more lessons to go), and I can honestly say that his method works! Never would I think learning vocab could be so painless and enjoyable. Ds constantly tells me he sees or hears "Caesar's English words" on such and such occasions. I am soooo happy that I found MCT.

We used SWI-A for 3rd and 4th. This year we are doing history-based writing, and it has worked very well for us. Even though we started in 3rd, I believe starting in 5th is perfect too. You might even start with SWI-B instead of A.

We are using Chaulk Dust pre-algebra right now. I find it hard to fit it into "do xyz lessons a day" or "do xyz problems a day" kind of mode. The reason has to do with our previous math curriculum--Singapore math. With the exception of Chapters 5,6, and 10, most of the material is review. So I find myself speeding up during the first 4 chapters and slowing down in chapter 5. We are at the end of chapter 6 now, and both ds and I agreed that chapter 5 is the hardest(with the most new material). I suggest that you take a good look at the table of content(also referring to the text) to see which parts of the material is review from your elementary math curriculum. Those sections you can expect to spend about 1-3 days each depending on how many problems you want to assign each day. If I am confident that ds knows the concept well, I skip DVD and go straight to section exercises. If I am not sure, I go over the text with him myself and have him do section exercises. I only let him watch DVD on brand new material(but this is just us because ds is not fond of the DVD teaching). So far I only assign the odd number problems. If ds gets 80% or above, we move on. If not, we go back and do the even number problems. I also tend to assign less problems on exercises that involve heavier calculation, and assign more when I know ds can do them quickly. At the end of each chapter are 3 reviews: chapter review exercises, chapter test, and cumulative review exercises. We have not had the need to do all of them, usually 1-2 is good enough. All these to say that how you schedule or progress your child has to do with how he is reponding to this curriculum. I suggest you take the first two chapters as your trial period to adjust according to your child's pace. After that, you should have a better idea on how to proceed from there.

This book looks really interesting. I reserved it from my library. Thanks! Thank you OP, for posting this thread, I need a book list too.

I'd like to be Japanese for a day. My next choice would be Scandinavian.

Wiping mouth/nose with sleeves. Licking plates clean after a satisfiying meal.

Nature's Way. We've used this brand for many years. They have both refrigerated kind and the pearl kind. We take the ones that require refrigeration at home and the pearls when traveling. Very very effective.

Are you on their Yahoo group? I believe someone there shared their schedule and saved it under files. I have not personally looked at it though because I have not had the need to do so. But you might want to take a look if you are interested in knowing how others schedule it.

I can't speak for their secondary level material because we are not there yet. But for the elementary level, it's pretty easy to implement. We just read the text and discuss, very simple. Here is a link to the implementation model slide show:http://www.rfwp.com/samples/LA-ELEM.pdf

How about some Chinese dumplings? Here is a link: http://userealbutter.com/2007/10/04/chinese-dumplings-and-potstickers-recipe/