when you go onto the CLE yahoo group, you'll find the samples under the "Photos" section of the website. The scope and sequence is under "Files"-very helpful to help you figure out what level to get.

that may help this? My hairdresser pointed out last time that my hair was significantly thinner (which I had noticed.) Not sure why either-healthy diet, etc. I pray you will find some answers to your dilemma soon!

http://www.clp.org I think Anabaptist Bookstore is the one I was thinking of that you don't want to use. I'm glad I could help-let us know how it goes!

Were they able to make it all the way straight through or did they plateau halfway through? I'm trying to figure out what to do with ds5 after he finishes RS A since dd (now 8), who is VERY bright and good at abstract thinking, wasn't ready for the concepts just past the middle of RS B until this past fall/winter so I had to stretch B WAY out and now I'm feeling she's behind, just going into 2nd grade math (RS C) last month! I just don't want to run into the same problem with ds. So I'm wondering if other 6 1/2 year-olds are handling RS B just fine (maybe it was just her?) Some of the concepts in RS B just seem like really high-level mathematical reasoning requiring lots of visualization. So did your dc finish B in one year in first grade?

When I first went with CLE, I was planning on continuing with RS through E, but just needed more spiral review. CLE was perfect for that because it was not too much extra work on top of our RS lesson, but gave the review I wanted. Price wasn't a factor for me in making my decision; after researching, it had everything I wanted, and providentially it was a good price! Just recently I started thinking about switching to BJU since I've heard from several people how they thought RS kind of falls apart in D and E. I would NOT use BJU for what you are looking for. In the older editions, which is what you'd need because the new edition for that level is not out yet, BJU is actually more like a mastery program without a lot of spiral review unless you get the separate reviews book. It would be way too much to try to add on to RS, and it wouldn't accomplish the objective of review you're trying to add. I ordered my CLE from the company and it was a good price and fast shipping. From what I recall, there is another company out there that sells CLE that people have had lots of trouble with, so I would avoid that one. I can't remember the name but sometimes it comes up when you google Christian Light Publications so be careful. Ask more questions if you need to!

the TM-it's so unwieldy and it's really made for the classroom. In fact, BJU just responded to my email that in the new edition, they use the exact same TM for home instructors and classrooms! I hate the thought of all that extra garbage in there so I have to prune it back to what I need. I haven't seen any of it in person. The only online sample I've found of the new edition is the first grade on their website. From what I can tell there, the new TM does look a little better than the old-it's four-color and a little better layout. Still unwieldy though. I am going to a local hotel meeting that BJU is doing on May 1 to look at the books in person. I will post after that about what I see. I'm just not sure I love what I've heard about RD D and E, so it may be worth the switch.

Are you finding anything in the later levels of RS (D and E) that are really great as far as concept presentation? For example, I LOVED how RS did place value and mentally adding two digits, and certain other topics. Really outstanding, and so much better for building a great math foundation than a curriculum that uses rote formulas, etc. Looking ahead in C, I do like how they do subtraction and build up to multiplication. I've heard there's not as much of this type of thing in D and E though; that you could go with, say, BJU and not miss much by not doing D and E. What are your thoughts on this?

We would fortunately be in line for the BJU revised editions, so it's especially tempting. But like you said, this is working okay for now. RS seems to kind of fall apart to me in the middle of C with all that T-square stuff, etc. I'm thinking I might like to go more traditional and have it all in one place, but RS does have a lot good about it.

Have you done any testing? Just wondered how the scores were coming out using this method since we just started doing this. Trying to decide if I should continue this method with dd or jump ship to BJU where it will all be in one place (conceptually strong, word problems, spiral review, drill, etc.) Thanks!

in the back of CLE, one per day, and you could do those too. We just started this-I think it will be helpful.

Great minds.....;)

Let me say I love RS-it cannot be beat for the way it teaches concepts. But we've had issues with it (lack of spiral review, B gets pretty hard in the middle of 1st grade, very uneven levels within a book-such as doing mental 4-digit addition with carrying one day, then talking about quarters and one-half the next, etc.) Dd8 has done RS A, B, and is now in C. Around the middle of B, mid-yr in 1st grade, she hit a wall with B, so we spent a little time in Saxon 2. When we started up B again this past fall she was MUCH better able to handle it, and we went through to C fine. But I was very concerned when I started to see, as you said, that she would learn the concept fine, and then not see it again for so long she would forget it. As you know, they do that a lot in RS-take two lessons to teach something, and then you go away from it for ten or more lessons. She clearly needed more spiral review. Plus I wanted to get more "traditional-looking" math in there. And more independence-she took the CAT-E test last spring, and kept looking to me to "discuss" the math like we do in RS. As I looked at other programs to supplement with, the problem I had was that I wanted her to be initially taught a concept by RS-that's the beauty of it. So long story short, what I finally ended up with was CLE. It's been a good fit for now. Can be done totally independently, only about three pages per day of all spiral review. It's laid out nicely and it's not too much to do a CLE lesson on top of our RS lesson. It's also very inexpensive. It's ten thin workbooks per year, so they feel a sense of accomplishment when they finish one. What we do so that it is strictly review is use it behind the level of where we are in RS. In the middle of RS B I added in CLE 1, but started on book 6 of the ten workbooks. You can look at the scope and sequence to see where you should start. I occasionally have to cross out a couple things when we haven't hit it in RS yet. She actually likes it and never groans at all when I bring it out. Her computational speed has increased significantly. Telling time, money, etc., got quicker right away too, just from the daily practice. I did buy the TM to make correcting go quickly-it was very inexpensive. We also do Evan Moor Daily Word Problems-she's in book 2 and does a whole wk's worth per day (5 problems) rather than 1 problem per day. That has been a great help too. After we finish this book I'll probably do Singapore CWP 2. I personally think extra word problems are good for practicing application of concepts no matter what math one is using. This is all working really well right now. However, I'm currently in research mode to slightly revamp my math plans for upcoming ds5. I just don't want to be doing so many different things. For him I'll do RS A this fall (LOVE it), then probably stall with something else for several months before putting him in B so he doesn't hit that wall like she did. I may just switch them both to BJU at some point. I've done RS enough that when a concept comes up in BJU, I could just present it to them the RS way. The conceptual presentations in BJU are similar to RS so it's a good fit. I also really like CLE, so that's another possibility. (Not that you asked, but maybe this will help someone!)

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I think I will get CWP 1 AND also 2. Then I can see which is the right level. If 1 is too easy, upcoming ds5 can use it eventually. I always like to have a word problems book alongside whatever we're doing, just to make sure application of concepts is happening. Thank you!

First of all, is it the protocol to give something to a friend who is moving out of state? We'll be meeting for a good-bye playdate and I'm not sure if I should bring something or not. She's extremely wealthy, has absolutely everything, and has made it clear several times that they are getting rid of a TON of stuff so they don't have to move a lot. So I don't want to bring in more. I know she would not be expecting anything, but I'd like to give her something. I thought about a book because she loves to read, but they are actually close friends with RC Sproul, Charles Stanley, etc.-they have literally a library of autographed books from nearly every author. I think I'm feeling a little unsure too because recently for a friend that was moving FAR away, we made a Christmas ornament-beautiful bulb with ribbons and a calligraphy quote that was meaningful to both families, plus our family's name and the date-and she seemed really put off that they were already packed and now what were they supposed to do with a fragile ornament on their cross-country drive (she didn't say that but it was obvious in other ways.) So what do you usually do when a friend moves away?

I'm worried! Should I start her with CWP 1? I'm a non-math mom and problems like the one you mentioned would trip me up-are they all like that? She's been doing Evan Moor Daily Word Problems 2 (along with RS C) and the problems are much easier than that.

Thanks for the thoughtful responses so far-I will also search the hs board for more info.

Do people using it not score well on testing? Is it missing things? It seems like a godsend to have the math taught this way, starting in 4th grade, so before I get scared off, I'd like to know more specifics. And would doing it a grade ahead make any difference to alleviate the concerns? We're in RS now which tends to be a little ahead in some ways, plus dd picks things up quickly; maybe we could switch to TT 4th grade in 3rd grade.

Well, that's good to know at least. How different is the CS TM from the Home Instructor's TM? I'm leery enough about using the Home Instructor's TM since it's so unwieldy (HATED the TM for BJU Bible.) If I have to use the CS TM and it's even more geared toward a school setting, it may just send me over the edge and make me completely disregard this program as a possible contender.

I know some families do the occasional educational DVD/video. If that's you, then I've found the Nest Entertainment DVDs to be great for younger children. They are short, very well-done animated videos about historical and also some biblical figures, and they have one about Maccabees. Your library may have it-ours has the whole series and I remember seeing Maccabees there. I can't remember but you may have said you don't own a TV-more power to you! But if that's the case just disregard this post.

I'm wondering if they've done that in place of the extra workbooks. It sounds like the CD does cover the areas that the extra wkbks currently do. Thanks for this information-I had no idea about the CD.

are any state requirements here as to it having to be recent. (I did the 1970 one or whatever it is that CLP puts out.) I actually wanted to switch to Seton to get my CAT test from this yr because I personally wanted a newer version-I thought the 1970 version that CLP puts out was kind of hard. So basically you're saying it's a problem in OR because it has to be a newer version?

Your links were helpful. If you check my post to Johanna and her reply (I don't know how to link), she has an email inside from BJU saying that 3rd edition 3rd grade will be out in July '08. She personally owns the 2nd grade 3rd edition, so that is out already. I don't know why they have to make it so complicated! I'm bummed too about what you said about what they did with the science revisions. I had hoped to start with the 3rd grade new edition and be able to keep going with using the new editions each year, but it sounds like BJU itself doesn't even know what's going on with these revisions! Thanks for your help!

I went to the hsreviews site and read your link plus some other info I found there. It does sound like it's hard to get straight answers from BJU about this! Couple more quick ??? if I may: Are you continuing to do the extra reviews book or is the review section included in the new edition enough? It sounds like it would still be nice to have for the drill. Do you know if they still have the Stretch Your Mind extra workbook available with the third editions? I think those would be a good fit for dd so I hope so! Do you find the TM to be overwhelming? I'm using BJU3 Bible this yr and I HATE the TM-very school-oriented. Can you tell me how you use the TM-just pull out what you need, or what? Thank you again for your help!

I did the CAT last yr with dd8 in lieu of a written assessment and it was great-gave her testing practice and took the pressure off me to write up a narrative. I had planned to do it again. This is the first I've heard of it no longer being offered. What can we use instead? I did the basic battery, which was just math and Eng, and that was great since our history is of course off the normal S+S, and so is our sci. What is comparable to the CAT basic battery that a mom can give at home? :eek: