we live in GA, so grocery prices are a bit cheaper than some other regions.. for example, I purchased a gallon of milk for 3.00 the other day... so you can use that for comparison. That being said, we are VERY frugal. We utilize a bread outlet in our town. The Sara Lee bakery pulls bread that is about to go out of date from grocery stores and sells the loaves at a very low price. We can get bread, king thin loaves for .79 each. We freeze about 10 loaves at one time. We also always eat either pb and j or left overs for one meal every day. We also do not purchase prepackaged foods and canned goods unless necessary. We menu plan extremely strictly to what we have in our pantry vs what we need to buy and only buy what is on the list. I cook breakfast and dinner. Breakfast consists of an egg and two pieces of toast, oatmeal, grits, biscuits or pancakes. We try to not over cook and try not to be wasteful. I have four kids, ages 6, 6, 7 and 9. I allow them the same portion sizes as me and my husband, I also make sure to have an extra serving to go to work with my husband the next day. I do not use coupons. I know my cheapest meats and meals for our family and spend 200 or less per month. The key is not grazing on what is in the pantry and fixing planned snacks and desserts instead. ETA: a typical meal would be oven roasted chicken thighs, green beans and mashed potatoes. Chili with cornbread. Chicken and dumplings with a fresh salad. Meatloaf, pintos and baked potatoes. We DO eat well for our dinners. We just choose to not blow money on munchies, pop tarts and cereals, etc. Oh, and we 90% of the time drink water and my kids are sensitive to milk products so we only use two gallons of milk a week!

I would also love to see how you use this program. Do you need the teachers manual and all the secondary books or could you just use the student text. Is it non consumable? I will be purchasing some grammar materials with our tax return in a couple of weeks. I am currently looking at R&S 3. We are using EFTTC and it works but BORING!

thanks! I found one site that said it was a 5th-7th grade level. Do you know if these books are progressive? Does that mean they should be reading at 7th grade level when they finish or that is just the estimated level? How do you use your readers? Do you choose one a bit over or right at their level to help progress them forward? One son, I had to help with some words to sound out.. and actually he sounded them out somewhat correctly, just not fluently. My oldest flew through the stories with no issue of phonetics or comprehension. We are mainly using them for him to work on his fluency.

It didn't work for us. However, my girls were already reading a little bit, recognized sight words and word families and got frustrated with the book. I would think it would work fine if this was what was taught first but wasn't a good choice coming in middle of the process

we are about an hour and a half north, towards Atlanta, in Newnan. My husband was medically chaptered out. The disadvantage we found was AZ didn't have a pre-k program at all for my youngest, so them coming into K mid year in GA was as if they were a year behind. School wise for my boys, the school is SO obsessed with standardized testing that they never even truly tested my kids to see where they "ranked." They just threw them in and herded them through. I would say GA is more aggressive with their "standards" but aren't focused on mastery for the individual student. AZ was VERY much focused on mastery, hands on activity and it was a GREAT experience. I also have to note that the school that we LOVED in AZ was on post, most of the teachers were military spouses, or retired military and had quite the experience with children coming and going and were pros at grabbing a child where they were at and working with them. We loved that school!

Thank you. Both of my sons' definitely read at a higher level than they spell. It makes sense to seek out a spelling program. I have heard great things about r&s spelling. I have not heard about How to Spell but will definitely check that out.

We are successfully using TT3 with my eight and nine year old boys. We were an active duty Army family and within three years my kids attended three different public schools and became WAY behind on math between the differences in AZ and GA PS's. That being said, when I brought them home to homeschool, we started at the beginning with second grade curriculum to get a better grasp of the founding principles of math to make the progress healthier. We did Math Mammoth 2nd grade curriculum for half the school year and just now started TT3 with my boys. The curriculum is great for their needs since they had some major gaps and needed a gentle, explanatory review and then progression forward. They have been using TT3 since January 1st and are now on lessons 23 and 24. They have a near 100 "grade" with these assignments and if I set the timer for 30 minutes, they can typically finish three lessons a day if I let them. Some lessons, if they receive a C, have have been known to delete the work and make them repeat and slow down. I can see a dramatic change in their personality and attitude towards math and we are making a definite progress now. TT3 is definitely a bit behind the typical 3rd grade math curriculum and I am ok with that because my boys are a bit behind, ha ha. But, I know the level of work doesn't really matter as long as they are progressing. I would suggest for anyone to use the sample on their website and make sure to use the correct level for their child. My girls will probably start TT3 in mid second grade at our rate right now. None of my kids are "mathy" and this curriculum is a LIFE SAVER!

Hey guys, I downloaded the free McGuffey readers from amazon.com and my sons are reading the fourth eclectic reader. When I look at samples on cbc.com, etc.. the samples don't match the table of contents of this book. Can anyone tell me the grade level of this reader? the link to the book is here: http://www.amazon.com/McGuffeys-Fourth-Eclectic-Reader-ebook/dp/B004UJOLQG/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327712628&sr=1-5#_#_ the table of contents starts with Perseverance, Try Try Again, and Why the Sea is Salt.. those are just the first three. Other copies I have looked at online don't have these in the table of contents at all in the "fourth reader"

What is PAL? I am currently using EFTTC and feel it a bit relaxed for my oldest boy. Good for my younger kids though

I have thought about the structured phonetic program but my oldest is so advanced in his reading skills compared to my youngest daughters.. If I selected their level he would be bored. I have considered purchasing the older boys their own levels of ETC. We are big fans there and the kids do tend to like independent work vs having to hear me teach, practice, repeat. Any suggestions of a structured program that would suffice both age groups without dumbing down my son that is reading on a 4th/5th grade level to the girls reading on an exiting K beginning 1st grade level?

oh, I also meant to ask how y'all pick your "extra reading" for reading time, narrations, etc. other than suggested from SOTW. I know it is recommended to read ancients with ancients, etc.... but I am sort of baffled at where to start to pick good read alouds. Do you make all four kids sit and listen to the same read aloud? Do you make the 1st graders listen and the 3rd graders read independently? Just trying to figure out my flow here! Also, is there a list of recommended read alouds for the grammar stage?

we are quite relaxed. I have four kids learning all at once. Our only true rules are: Don't talk to me till I have coffee... well j/k..sorta. ha ha No toys during lessons, at the table, during reading, etc. No tv or electronics until 5pm no matter how early we finish No assisting others with assignments unless directed to No hovering over others while they are working. We are typically spread out ALL over the house and I am coming and going between each kid. There are timers ticking everywhere, classical music playing. One on the computer, some at the table working, some sprawled out in the floor, one son is kinesthetic and prefers to stand so he is at our front entrance at a higher standing table that happens to be perfect for his height while standing... No way that I could have "normal classroom rules" so I don't attempt to.

I have four kids, twins in first and 8 and 9 year old boys in 3rd grade level work. I am knew to TWTM style of homeschooling and would like to lay out my curriculum choices and see if y'all think it sounds about right. We originally started using The Weaver last February and no matter how hard I tried to like it, I hated it! For my girls, on first grade level: Reading: oral narration of stories I read to them Grammar: EFTTC and ETC. I tried using 100EZ but they hated it. So, we are not using a phonics program other than ETC right now... Spelling: none, being that they write words with ETC Manuscript: working on D'nealian workbook Math: Math Mammoth until they are at the level to use TT Art: no formal curricula but many hands on projects with SOTW V1 AG Music: none, other than listening to classical extra: gymnastics SHARED between girls and boys: History: SOTW VOL1 and AG Science: Abeka EGW3 until I purchase the Usborne First Encylopedias and start those studies instead Boys, 3rd grade: Reading: oral narration and written narration of stories, Grammar: EFTTC but about to purchase R&S English3 Spelling: None at the moment but seeking curricula considering R&S spelling 3. Was using Quikie words with Weaver. No good. Wisdom Words, no good either :/ Penmanship: cursive workbook Math: TT3 WE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT Art: no formal yet Music: one son about to begin guitar.. another insisting on learning Harmonica :/ Extra: Gymnastics Latin: considering Prima Latina? I would love any suggestions of advice in regards to my choices. I am definitely using more "products" and pieces from here and there than I did with The Weaver but I feel more confident that they are learning what they need to. They all love SOTW and I do too since I am not having to do any major research to learn the topic before I teach it to them!